Like a replay of the Great Depression, a bank in Iraq went under in 2010, nearly taking millions of American dollars with it. According to a report from the Washington Times, Iraq's Al-Warka Bank was already having stability problems when the U.S. began to close all its accounts as part of the withdrawal of troops […]
By John Lee. The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) has announced that its board has decided to "lift custody [guardianship]" over Warka Bank on August 25, 2013, following a final decision made by the Financial Services Court on 26th May, 2013. Warka Bank announced on its website that: "This decision comes in accordance with the […]
By John Lee. Warka Bank has issued the following statement with regard to its legal case against the Central Bank of Iraq: "With regards to the legal court case Warka Bank for Investment and Finance has filed against the Central Bank of Iraq Warka Bank for Investment and Finance is delighted to inform its cliental, […]
Iraqi banker Saad al-Bunia says Warka Bank for Investment and Finance, which was placed in insolvency proceedings by authorities this month, is a victim of its own success, with its growth threatening the near-monopoly of state banks. "They don't want a strong bank to operate and compete with state banks," said British-educated Bunia, a member of […]
Iraq's central bank has reportedly placed private bank Warka Bank under guardianship to supervise it through insolvency. Warka Bank had been in talks with Standard Chartered Plc to sell a stake last year, but they were not successful. According to the report from Reuters, Mudher Kasim, deputy governor of the central Bank of Iraq, said: […]
President Ismail Omar Guelleh recently inaugurated the first subsidiary of Iraq-based Warka Bank for Investment and Finance (BWAI) in Djibouti to offer full range of banking services. The ceremony was attended by the Prime Minister Dileita Mohamed Dileita, Mr. Hichem Ben Turkia, who is Warka Bank representative, several members of government, as well as ambassadors […]
Last weekend two stories, one in Al Hayat the other in the Abu Dhabi paper The National, confirmed that Standard Chartered is in talks to take over Warka Bank (BWAI). (There's more on the story here.) While there have been rumors to this effect for over a year, this is the first time anything has […]
London-based Standard Chartered Bank has been in talks for the past 3-4 months to buy a stake in Warka Bank, one of Iraq's biggest private banks, a central bank official said on Monday. Hassan al-Haidari, a central bank advisor, told Reuters: "They (Standard Chartered) wanted more than 50 percent but they (Warka) wanted (to give) […]
Winston Churchill once likened observing Soviet politics to “watching two dogs fighting under a carpet.” All you can say for sure is that something’s going on. The latest news on Warka Bank has exactly this 'subcarpet' quality. The ISC has ordered Warka’s brokerage subsidiary to stop its operations in the market effective July 26 following […]
In March ISX-listed Qimma Financial Investment (VQUF) announced that Warka Bank’s majority shareholder, Saad Al Bunnia, had appointed it to “begin a formal auction process following a due diligence report carried out by Price Waterhouse Coopers.” The announcement, which was posted on Qimma’s website, went on to say that Mr. Bunnia was “interested in entertaining […]
A posting on the ISX website last week has revealed new details about a suit filed against Warka Bank by AsiaCell. Apparently the mobile phone operator has been unable to withdraw IQD 29.3 billion in deposits and is suing for the return of these funds under the bankruptcy provisions of the Commercial Code. (English and […]
Iraq Business News has received information suggesting that AsiaCell is suing Warka Bank for the return of funds amounting to around 29 billion Iraqi dinars [$25 million]. According to one source, this could be enough to do serious damage to Warka. While the full picture is still not entirely clear, we are attaching an official […]
