Parsian Bank

Info:
Parsian Bank is a major Iranian private bank, headquartered in Tehran, Iran.

Parsian Bank was founded in July 2001, and opened for business in 2002. It entered the Tehran Stock Exchange in 2004.

Parsian Bank shares shows that is owned by state-affiliated entities;

Tadbir Investment Co, (a subsidiary of Setad) acquired a small stake in Parsian and despite being a minority owner transformed the bank, bringing in new managers and among other things eliminating the lacks dress code.

On 19 September, 1.44 million shares of the bank traded on the Tehran Stock Exchange. The shares, worth a total of about $320 million, were bought by a single customer. The shares – which comprised about 29% of the Bank’s total shares – belonged to Iran Khodro Industrial Group (A government company). The bank has still not publicly named the new owners of the stake.

In September 2010, a 10% stake in Parsian E-Commerce, the online banking subsidiary of Parsian Bank, was successfully sold on the Iranian Over-The-Counter (OTC) market. The IPO was worth $116 million.

Largest shareholder of Parsian Bank is Iran Khodro that owns over 30% of the bank’s shares;

Supreme leader controls four out of eight members of Parsian’s board of directors, some members of Parsian bank are also board of directors in Karafarin bank;
Aref Noroozi who represents a subsidiary of the Mostazafan foundation is in the boards of directors in Parsian bank;

Parsian is listed by Irans’ Central Bank as a “non-government owned bank”. However the bank is far from being controlled by private entities. The bank is clearly under heavy influence and control of very certain elements in the Iranian regime. Elements that are controlled and aligned with the supreme leader. Both EIKO and the Mostazafan are not only entities controlled by the Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenai, they are tools of political and financial control

Supreme Leader’ economic empire, like the IRGC, is managed by professional technocrats whose recurring appearance in various companies is not only an indication of whether the Company is linked to “bad elements”, but, also of the existence of a network of trusted managers and officials that are charged with handling and developing the Supreme Leaders economic interests.

Such prominent influence of “bad elements” on the bank, make it a high risk bank for foreign investors since it is highly probable that the bank will be used habitually to serve the interests of these negative elements within in the Iranian regime. In fact, it has already engaged in such activity in the past. Currently,

Parsian bank poses two major threats to anyone entering into a contract with it:
– It is controlled by “bad elements” that exposes investors to sanctions and other punitive actions.
– Since it was embroiled in inter-political rivalries in Iran and is this identified with some political party in Iran, it is prone to fall victim to the unexpected and ruthless ebbs and flows of the Iranian political system. This company is unsafe investment and business partner.

Parsian Bank is added to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list maintained by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on 10.16.2018 pursuant to Executive Order 13224, for assisting, sponsoring, or providing financial, material, or technological support for, or financial or other services to or in support of, Andisheh Mehvaran Investment Company;

Andisheh Mehvaran Investment Company is designated by OFAC pursuant to E.O. 13224 for being owned or controlled by Iran Zink and Mines Development Company, and also for assisting, sponsoring, or providing financial, material, or technological support for, or financial or other services to or in support of, IZMDC;

Involved In:
Nuclear Weapon Program
Missile Weapon program

Established:
2002

Country:
Iran

Address:
No.4, Zarafshan St., Farahzadi Blvd., Shahrak Ghods, Tehran, Iran
Zip code: 1467793811

Phone:
9821-81151000

Website:
www.parsian-bank.ir

E-mail:
info@parsian-bank.ir

Person of interests:

Shareholders:
List of shareholders of Bank Parsian

Articles/Reports:
Parsian Bank
Corruption in Iran 2017

Reason for the color:
» Parsian Bank is added to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list maintained by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on 10.16.2018 pursuant to Executive Order 13224, for assisting, sponsoring, or providing financial, material, or technological support for, or financial or other services to or in support of, Andisheh Mehvaran Investment Company;
» Added to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list maintained by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) freezing his assets under U.S. jurisdiction and prohibiting transactions with U.S. parties, pursuant to Executive Order 13382, which targets proliferators of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and their delivery systems;
» Removed from the SDN list in January 2016 as part of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action;
» Parsian Bank is an entity of IRGC Basij
» According to documents revealed on WikiLeaks, in 2008, Iran paid North Korea 2.5 million dollars for weapons purchases. The payments for these transactions were made by a company in Iran called “Hong Kong Electronics”. The Company wired the 2.5 million dollars in three separate payments during November 2007 via Parsian Bank in Iran to the Bank Mellat’s branch in Seoul. According to the WikiLeaks cables, “Hong Kong Electronics” is a shell company owned by the North Korea’s “Tanchon Commercial Bank”;
» Between the years 2012 and 2013, the Parsian Bank was part of a concentrated effort meant to circumvent sanctions in what became known as “gas-for-gold” transactions;
» This was part of the activity of a wider network of Turkish front companies that were involved in circumventing sanctions along with Turkey’s Halkbank. The modus operandi of this network was to issue invoices for fake transactions for goods that were permissible for Iran under international sanctions. This way, the Turkish network managed to bypass sanctions, and allowed the Iranian banking system that had been cut off from Swift services to move funds through companies in Turkey and money exchange houses in Dubai;
» In September 2012, Bank Parsian was refused by the Reserve Bank of India and the Indian Ministry of Finance to open a branch in the country. According to one report: ‘the Ministry of Home Affairs had denied security clearance to applications by Parsian Bank and two other Iranian banks fearing threat of money laundering and terror financing in banking transactions as cautioned by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF);
» In late September 2017, Austria’s Oberbank and Denmark’s Danske Bank each entered into framework agreements with a number of Iranian banks, among them Parsian Bank. According to the agreements signed, both European banks will respectfully provide financing for Austrian and Danish companies exporting to Iran;
» On May 29, 2017, Iran’s’ Ministry of Foreign Relations announced that it reached an agreement for cooperation was reached between Italy’s “Banca Popolare di Sondrio” and 20 Iranian Banks, among them Parsian Bank. According to the agreement, the Italian bank will allow its branches in Italy to receive money transfers directly from Iran which will considerably reduce both risk as well as rates for Iranian Banks;
» In August 2016 it was reported that the Bank was given approval to open a branch in Munich;
» Turkish company Lyzico signed a deal with Bank Parsian
On February 16, 2016, it was reported that an Istanbul-based payments startup company called Iyzico, signed a deal with Bank Parsian’s electronic payments platform, Parsian E-Commerce Company (PECCO). The deal will allow the customers of the Turkish Company process transactions from some 230 million payment cards that were until recently disconnected from any financial system outside Iran;
» Iranian government interference with Parsian bank;