A spokeswoman for the US Treasury Department confirmed that
meetings had taken place with senior UK bankers. However,
she stressed that the talks had been set up so that US
government officials could "equip banks with information"
about the dangers of allowing Iran to remain part of the
international financial community.
I wonder what Washington is playing at? Surely they know any attempt to
'isolate' Iran financially will simply push her closer to her Russian and
Chinese allies, both of whom have deep pockets. Perhaps Washington knows that
'coming closer' is already inevitable, and is pursuing some kind of damage
control.
mystified,
rkm
--------------------------------------------------------
Original source URL:
http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article2034764.ece
US tells banks to shut down Iran operations
By Andrew Murray-Watson
Published: 03 December 2006
Several of the UK's largest banks fear they could face the full legislative
wrath of the US government unless they bow to Washington's pressure to shut
their operations in Iran.
It is believed that officials in President George Bush's administration have
also put pressure on banks with operations in the US, including RBS, HSBC and
Barclays, to stop acting on behalf of UK business customers in Iran. Barclays,
it is thought, has already told its corporate clients that it will not accept
deposits from transactions originating in Iran.
The finance director of an AIM-listed company with significant operations in
Iran said: "Barclays told us that it is unable to act as our bank as far as Iran
is concerned. We have not been told why." HSBC has said it will no longer accept
dollar transactions from within Iran, while RBS declined to comment.
Although the UK banks involved are listed and incorporated in the UK, all have
either a secondary listing or substantial operations in the US that makes them
potentially vulnerable to US government action.
A senior executive at one of the banks affected said: "The consequences of not
toeing the American line on Iran have not been made clear, but we were left in
no doubt that we might not want to find out."
A spokeswoman for the US Treasury Department confirmed that meetings had taken
place with senior UK bankers. However, she stressed that the talks had been set
up so that US government officials could "equip banks with information" about
the dangers of allowing Iran to remain part of the international financial
community.
Business leaders in the UK have grown increasingly worried that they might fall
foul of US legal or regulatory censure for actions that take place in the UK or
in another country. It emerged last month that American victims of terrorist
attacks were pursuing civil actions against US subsidiaries of NatWest and
Crédit Lyonnais on the grounds that their parent companies provided banking
facilities in the UK and France for charities that the US Treasury Department
believes has links to Hamas, the militant Palestinian organisation.
The US has imposed unilateral sanctions on Iran - because of its alleged support
for international terrorism - and individuals found to have breached the
economic restrictions face a fine of up to $250,000 (£126,000) and 20 years in
jail.
© 2006 Independent News and Media Limited
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