Iran-Ukraine to Expand Banking Ties


TEHRAN (CBI PR Dept) – CBI Vice Governor for Foreign Exchange Affairs pointed to Post-JCPOA developments in Iran's banking system and said: "After the implementation of JCPOA, Iranian banks have been able to restore and deepen previous ties with their foreign counterparts including Indian, Chinese, South Korean, Japanese, Russian and Turkish banks. Also, we have opened correspondence accounts in many European countries, namely banks from Germany, Italy, Austria, Netherlands and Switzerland."


The first meeting of the banking cooperation working group between the banking systems of Iran and Ukraine was held with the presence of Vice governors for foreign exchange affairs from the central bank of Iran and National bank of Ukraine and also the representatives of Iranian and Ukrainian banking systems.
In this meeting CBI Vice Governor, Kamyab, hoped to relieve businesses from current barriers of trade through promoting banking capabilities and added:"Under the new state of affairs and after the secondary sanctions against Iran were lifted, all banking operations including opening overseas accounts and making transactions in Euro and other common currencies except Dollar are possible without concerns or restrictions."
"Since January and following the implementation of the nuclear deal, we have established more than 614 correspondent links with 230 foreign peers," Said Kamyab emphasizing on promoting efficient banking ties to expand trade and commerce."As a result of our officials’ efforts, a significant part of the problems created due to the restrictions has now been addressed."

"According to the data released by the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran, during the past 10 years, the average annual volume of business deals between Iran and Ukraine has risen to $321 million," Kamyab said.
He recommended connecting both countries’ banking card switches. Also he suggested the two central banks open accounts with each other, "Doing so will facilitate banking transactions and will lead to empowerment of banking payment channels."
“Moreover, using national currencies in the form of a Banking Practice Agreement (BPA) is another way of facilitating bilateral commercial deals”, he added.
Additionally in this meeting, the Vice Governors assessed other fashions of developing banking collaborations between the two countries such as facilitating transactions via opening accounts in joint correspondent banks, supporting establishment of independent banks, branches or representative offices, allocation of credit lines and exchange of experiences in the fields of AML and CFT.

  

No limitations in banking relations with Iran
Oleg Y Churiy, Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine also backed collaborations between the central banks of both countries. "Based on the approval of Ukrainian cabinet and authorities, there is no restriction to the establishment of correspondent relations with Iranian banks" Churiy said.
Pointing to the benefits of the recent Financial Action Task Force (FATF) decision to suspend its blacklist countermeasures against Iran, the Ukrainian banker hoped it will help further ease the expansion of ties and eliminate earlier concerns related to combating money laundering and terrorism financing in Iran. "Iranian efforts for compliance of domestic regulations with international laws are admirable" he added.
About the exchange of the banking knowledge and experience between the two countries, Churiy expressed readiness to assist Iran when it comes to the global ratings of financial institutions.
“We also hope to establish well-developed banking ties with Iran in all fields including AML and CFT," he concluded.

In the end of this meeting, a banking MoU was signed by CBI Vice Governor, Kamyab and NBU Deputy Governor, Churiy.

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