YEREVAN, August 22. /ARKA/. Armenian banks couldn’t and don’t hold any financial transactions with the citizens of Iran blacklisted by the U.N. Security Council, Armenian Central Bank Financial Monitoring Center head Daniel Azatyan told journalists Wednesday.
Earlier Reuters reported, with international sanctions squeezing Iran, the Islamic Republic is seeking to expand its banking foothold in the Caucasus nation of Armenia to make up for difficulties in countries it used to rely on to do business.
“No country is allowed to bypass the financial-economic sanctions implemented by the U.N. Security Council against Iran. Within these sanctions there is a blacklist of individuals with whom there can’t be any financial operations effected. The database of each bank contains these blacklists ensuring no transactions with these individuals are operated,” he said.
Moreover, some countries’ authorities appeal to their fiscal structures to be careful or make no deals with some Iranian citizens or companies, and the Armenian banks are also monitoring the situation.
“I should also mention that bank owners and market members require their workers to be maximally circumspect so as not to stain a bank’s reputation. We can’t compare the volume of assets of our banks and those of international financial structures, and if we have problems, it can really have a negative impact not only on some particular bank, but the banking system of the country in general,” he added.
Azatyan also highlighted the Financial Monitoring Center of Armenia is collaborating with Iranian financial control body in information exchange.
“We are cooperating with Iran within the rational norms. Iran is one of the candidates to join the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units; Armenia and Ukraine are supporting Iran’s initiative,” he said.
According to the press release issued by the CB on 21 August, the banks in the Republic of Armenia, operating under the supervision of the Central Bank of Armenia, are subject to the laws of the Republic of Armenia, the regulations of the Central Bank of Armenia, and the banks’ internal rules. One of the supervisory tiers of the Central Bank of Armenia is the provision of the adequate implementation of financial sanctions imposed on certain countries under relevant decisions of international organizations, such as the UN Security Council Resolutions.
The Central Bank of Armenia obligates all banks and financial institutions in the Republic of Armenia to scrutinize their transactions, in order to avoid any possible involvement in transactions considered unacceptable by the international community.
Currently, there is one bank with Iranian capital operating in Armenia.
“Mellat Bank” CJSC has been operating in the Republic of Armenia since 1996; its clientele is primarily composed of small and medium enterprises involved in the foreign trade between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Armenia, as well as of tourists and students. The bank’s activities and assets have dramatically decreased during the past 3-4 years; in the period from December 31, 2010 to July 1, 2012, the banks’ assets have decreased by more than 50%, dropping from 88 million US dollars to only 40 million US dollars. “Mellat Bank” CJSC holds no correspondent accounts either in the European Union and the United States of America or in the Republic of Armenia.—0–
