British-based global banking giant HSBC and a Canadian bank are in the process of applying for permission to operate in Iraq, Arab bankers said on Thursday.
Iraq's central bank is receiving requests for applications for six licences. HSBC and a Canadian bank have requested applications, bankers who met with the two banks added.
An HSBC delegation was visiting Iraqi banks on Thursday as a bomb attack on HSBC buildings and the British Consulate in Istanbul killed at least 26 people.
"We are investigating whether it's possible for us to play a role in the financial reconstruction of Iraq," an HSBC spokesman said. He declined to comment further.
The world's second-largest bank by market value has aggressively expanded its global network in recent years. HSBC already has operations in 12 Middle East countries, including United Arab Emirates and its 40 percent stake in Saudi British Bank.
Five of Canada's six big banks denied they had sought an application to operate in Iraq. Only Toronto-Dominion Bank declined comment, although banking sources said they doubted it is involved.
Denying involvement were Bank of Montreal, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Bank of Nova Scotia, and National Bank of Canada.
Royal Bank of Canada, the country's largest bank, said it was not applying to operate in Iraq, but is part of a consortium led by US bank JP Morgan Chase & Co that will manage the Trade Bank of Iraq.
The Trade Bank of Iraq, which begins operations next week, is a first step in facilitating trade for the battered country.
"The criteria set by the United States favor international banks as far as capital and a commitment to expansion. Regional banks are less well positioned to win a licence, except for Jordan's Arab Bank and the National Bank of Kuwait. But I do not know if they applied," a regional banker said.
"I do not think Lebanese banks will qualify to apply," the bankers added, referring to Lebanese and Jordanian banks that acted as Iraq's banking outlet since the UN imposed sanctions on the country in 1990.
Subsidiaries of foreign banks in Iraq must have a minimum capital of US$25 million under new regulations that allow them in for the first time since nationalization in the 1960s.
The deadline for requests for licence applications have been extended one week to Dec. 4, according to an Iraqi central bank announcement.
Baghdad bankers said lack of security in Iraq already threatens their operations and foreign banks could come under threat.
"We are already struggling to transport money and protect branches. Communications is also difficult," said Qais al-Soueidi, general manager of United Investment Bank.
Iraqi private banks say an aggressive US laissez-faire policy not even applied in the US, which includes allowing foreign banks to enter Iraq without restrictions, ignored 13 years of UN sanctions that isolated Iraqi banking and left it behind the rest of the world. Foreign banks should have been forced to enter the Iraqi market through joint ventures with local ones, they say.
Nvidia Corp yesterday unveiled its new high-speed interconnect technology, NVLink Fusion, with Taiwanese application-specific IC (ASIC) designers Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯) and MediaTek Inc (聯發科) among the first to adopt the technology to help build semi-custom artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure for hyperscalers. Nvidia has opened its technology to outside users, as hyperscalers and cloud service providers are building their own cost-effective AI chips, or accelerators, used in AI servers by leveraging ASIC firms’ designing capabilities to reduce their dependence on Nvidia. Previously, NVLink technology was only available for Nvidia’s own AI platform. “NVLink Fusion opens Nvidia’s AI platform and rich ecosystem for
WARNING: From Jan. 1 last year to the end of last month, 89 Taiwanese have gone missing or been detained in China, the MAC said, urging people to carefully consider travel to China Lax enforcement had made virtually moot regulations banning civil servants from making unauthorized visits to China, the Control Yuan said yesterday. Several agencies allowed personnel to travel to China after they submitted explanations for the trip written using artificial intelligence or provided no reason at all, the Control Yuan said in a statement, following an investigation headed by Control Yuan member Lin Wen-cheng (林文程). The probe identified 318 civil servants who traveled to China without permission in the past 10 years, but the true number could be close to 1,000, the Control Yuan said. The public employees investigated were not engaged in national
ALL TOGETHER: Only by including Taiwan can the WHA fully exemplify its commitment to ‘One World for Health,’ the representative offices of eight nations in Taiwan said The representative offices in Taiwan of eight nations yesterday issued a joint statement reiterating their support for Taiwan’s meaningful engagement with the WHO and for Taipei’s participation as an observer at the World Health Assembly (WHA). The joint statement came as Taiwan has not received an invitation to this year’s WHA, which started yesterday and runs until Tuesday next week. This year’s meeting of the decisionmaking body of the WHO in Geneva, Switzerland, would be the ninth consecutive year Taiwan has been excluded. The eight offices, which reaffirmed their support for Taiwan, are the British Office Taipei, the Australian Office Taipei, the
CAUSE AND EFFECT: China’s policies prompted the US to increase its presence in the Indo-Pacific, and Beijing should consider if this outcome is in its best interests, Lai said China has been escalating its military and political pressure on Taiwan for many years, but should reflect on this strategy and think about what is really in its best interest, President William Lai (賴清德) said. Lai made the remark in a YouTube interview with Mindi World News that was broadcast on Saturday, ahead of the first anniversary of his presidential inauguration tomorrow. The US has clearly stated that China is its biggest challenge and threat, with US President Donald Trump and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth repeatedly saying that the US should increase its forces in the Indo-Pacific region
RSS