IslamicFinance.de

Iranian owners of a Bahraini bank complained about Bahrain to an international arbitration court in the Netherlands. Bahrain responded with documents proving that $7 billion was smuggled through suspicious accounts with the consent and knowledge of the bank’s management. Future Bank was closed in 2015, but documents prove Iran’s secret assistance in evading international sanctions and smuggling billions of dollars over more than a decade. Bahraini officials criticized Future Bank for allowing the cleric Isa Qassim to make cash deposits totaling millions of dollars over several years, and directing some of the money to a charity linked to terrorism. Audits revealed then that in hundreds of cases, bank transfers were accompanied by specific instructions to avoid references to Iran or Iranian banking codes.

The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) has announced plans to close down Future Bank, a joint venture between two Iranian lenders – Bank Saderat and Bank Melli – and Bahrain’s Ahli United Bank, said a report. The CBB said it intends to submit a petition to the competent court for compulsory liquidation of the Bahrain-based retail bank, reported the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.

Bahrain's central bank said on Tuesday it is taking steps to close down Iranian-owned Future Bank, which is based in the Gulf state. Bahrain's central bank has not elaborated on its reasons for the action. Future Bank, based in Manama, is a commercial bank which was founded as a joint venture between two Iranian banks - Bank Saderat and Bank Melli - and Bahrain's Ahli United Bank. The bank's assets stood at 569.4 million dinars ($1.51 billion) at the end of September 2015. On Monday, Ebtisam al-Arrayed, head of regulatory policy at the central bank, said that the regulator had yet to make a decision about Future Bank after placing it under its administration last year, along with Iran Insurance Co - the Bahrain branch of an Iranian insurer.

Future Bank, a Bahrain-based Iranian bank, has appealed a recent decision by Bahrain's central bank (CBB) to place it along with another Iranian financial institution into administration under the pretext of protecting the rights of depositors and policyholders. CBB in the case of the Future Bank and the Iran Insurance Company will have the power to continue or to temporary suspend their operations, the power to suspend or limit the discharge of their financial obligations, and the power to conclude deals on behalf of them. The Future Bank was established in 2004 through a joint venture between Bank Saderat Iran, Bank Melli Iran, and Ahli United Bank (AUB) Bahrain.

Bahrain’s central bank said on Thursday it had placed two Iran-linked companies, Future Bank and Iran Insurance Co, into administration to protect the rights of depositors and policyholders. In a brief statement, the central bank did not elaborate on why it took the action or give any information about the two companies. Future Bank, based in Manama, is a commercial bank which was founded in 2004 as a joint venture between two Iranian banks - Bank Saderat and Bank Melli - and Bahrain’s Ahli United Bank. Iran Insurance Co is the Bahrain branch of an Iranian government-owned insurer. It was not immediately known whether the action against the two companies in Bahrain was related to international sanctions against Iranian institutions.