Bank Mellat
| Public | |
| Traded as |
TSE: BMLT1 ISIN: IRO1BMLT0007 |
| Industry | Financial services |
| Founded | 1980 |
| Headquarters | Tehran, Iran |
Key people |
Mohammad Bigdeli (Chairman) Hadi Akhlaghi (CEO) |
| Total assets | US$ 62 billion (2011)[1] |
Number of employees | 24,757 (2009) |
| Website |
en |
Bank Mellat (Persian: بانک ملت, lit. People's Bank) is a private Iranian bank. Its name means "Bank of the Nation". Bank Mellat was established in 1980, with a paid capital of Rials 33.5 billion as a merger of ten pre-revolution private banks, comprising Tehran, Dariush, Pars, Etebarat Taavoni & Tozie, Iran & Arab, Bein-al-melalie-Iran, Omran, Bimeh Iran, Tejarat Khareji Iran and Farhangian.
Currently, the bank's capital amounts to Rls 13,100 billion and it is one of the largest commercial banks in the Islamic Republic of Iran, ranking among the top 1000 banks of the world.
Bank Mellat's logo is derived from City National Bank of Florida (of CAJA MADRID Group).
The Bank Mellat London branch was merged with the Bank Tejarat branch to form Persia International Bank PLC.
Sanctions and court actions
The United States Department of the Treasury has mentioned Bank Mellat and Persia International in their watchlist of Iranian banks which may be trading in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1803.[2]
On 29 January 2013, the European General Court in Luxembourg ruled to annul the European Union sanctions in place since 2010 against Bank Mellat on grounds of supporting the Iranian nuclear and missile programs, stating that the basic rights of the bank had been denied and there was no evidence supporting the claim. Bank Mellat intends to sue for damages.[3][4] On 18 February 2016, the Court of Justice of the European Union concurred with the General Court decision that the reasons given for sanctions were too vague.[5]
A related action in the British courts was taken to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom in March 2013, causing the court to hold a closed hearing for the first time.[6] In June 2013, the Supreme Court ruled that the UK government's sanctions on the bank had been unlawful.[7] Bank Mellat intends to claim for £500 million of damages from the UK government for loss of business between 2009 and 2013.[8]
References
- ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-03-09. Retrieved 2012-02-21.
- ↑ "Iranian Banks". The United States department of the Treasury.
- ↑ "Iran bank to sue EU after winning sanction list case". Reuters. 30 January 2013. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
- ↑ Ulrich Unterweger (4 April 2013). "General Court rulings on Iranian Banks threaten to torpedo EU's foreign policy ambitions". European Law Blog. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
- ↑ "European Union and United Kingdom Sanctions Update: March 2016". K&L Gates. 17 March 2016. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
- ↑ Maya Lester (21 March 2013). "First ever closed hearing in the UK Supreme Court - Bank Mellat's case". European Sanctions - Law and practice. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
- ↑ Lester, Maya. "UK Supreme Court quashes Order against Bank Mellat". European Sanctions blog. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
- ↑ Colin Freeman (18 August 2013). "Iranian bank sues over sanctions". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 20 August 2013.