Some of the top European bankers who met with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to hear assurances that they can resume business with Iran still have no plans of doing so.
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Kerry told the meeting of European bank executives that lenders will not be held to task for doing legitimate business with Iran, in a bid to allay fears following past fines for the lenders for breaking sanctions.
Banks remain particularly wary of the USA ban on dollar-based transactions with Iran being processed through the US financial system.
Kerry also said that Iran deserves the economic sanctions relief promised in last year’s landmark nuclear agreement with the U.S.
“Businesses should not use the United States as an excuse if they don’t want to do business, or if they don’t see a good business deal … that’s just not fair, that’s not accurate”, Reuters quoted Kerry as saying.
Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) Chief Executive John Cryan, HSBC’s (HSBA.L) United Kingdom head Antonio Simoes and Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) Chief Financial Officer David Mathers were among the senior bankers who attended.
“The U.S. Treasury. acts in such a way that big corporations, big institutions and big banks do not dare to come and deal with Iran”, Khamenei said in March.
At a minimum, presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton claims she would add more sanctions if Iran comes too close to developing nuclear weapons, while presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump has said he wants to re-negotiate the deal.
“Therefore, Deutsche Bank continues to generally restrict business connected to Iran”, the bank said in a statement.
According to Dubowitz, the only way European companies would be reluctant to rush doing business with Iran would be if the US imposes meaningful economic sanctions on Iran for its support for terrorism, missile activities or human rights abuses.
The removal of sanctions was part of a last July agreement reached between Iran and the permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany (P5+1) that went into effect in January.
British banks including Barclays and Standard Chartered as well as some from other European countries attended, sources familiar with the matter said. “And the USA maintains a prohibition on Iran accessing the American financial system or directly conducting transactions in US dollars, fueling confusion and practical impediments given that worldwide transactions routinely cross through the US banking system”.
Despite Kerry’s strenuous efforts to assure banks that the United States won’t stand in the way of legitimate deals with Iran, banking officials said they simply remain unconvinced.
“We sometimes get used as an excuse in this process”, he said. “Nor will we undertake any new transactions involving Iran or any party in Iran”.
“It’s the first hurdle in the race”, Mr. Hammond told reporters, speaking alongside Mr. Kerry. He says companies are using the U.S.as an excuse when they have other reasons to avoid the Islamic Republic.
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Under the nuclear agreement, “we are fully permitted to take independent actions with respect to” ballistic missiles, terrorism and human rights – “and we will”, Cardin told USA TODAY.
