Bank Mellat Expands Int’l Operations

Bank Mellat, a leading Iranian privatized bank, has fully established corresponding relations with more than 100 lenders worldwide, said an official of the bank.

Alireza Lagzaei, Bank Mellat’s vice director, said the bank has been working on reopening accounts with foreign lenders that were closed following the imposing of sanctions against Iran’s banking system, Banker.ir reported on Monday.

The banker also added that forex operations in his bank have doubled compared with last year.

“Payment orders had a larger share in the bank’s forex operations, as customers prefer to use payment orders rather than letters of credit,” he said.

Lagzaei added that Mellat’s subsidiaries in Germany, Eihbank, and in the UK, Persia International Bank, have managed to resume operations, after receiving permission from financial authorities.

Eihbank is jointly owned by the Bank of Industry and Mine, Bank Mellat and Bank Saderat Iran. PIB is jointly owned by Bank Mellat and Tejarat Bank.

According to the banker, Bank Mellat plans to expand operation in South Korea, through its branch in Seoul.

The lender is reportedly planning to launch a subsidiary and a branch in Malaysia and Georgia respectively in the next two months.

Three branches of Bank Mellat in Turkey, one each in Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir, also began operations in February.

Back in October, it was announced that Yerevan-based Mellat Bank CJSC, fully owned by Iran’s Bank Mellat, increased its authorized capital in compliance with the new requirement of the Central Bank of Armenia.