Iranian Private Bank Opens Representative Office in Italy

Saman Bank, a leading private Iranian lender, Wednesday announced that it has launched a representative office in Rome.

The lender aims to promote investment opportunities in Iran and offer banking, financial and legal consultancy services to European investors keen on doing business in Iran, said Mansour Momeni, head of Saman Bank’s public relations office.

Momeni also pointed to Saman Bank’s agreement with SACE, Italy’s state-owned export credit agency, and said, “SACE has allocated a credit line specifically to Saman Bank, which can be used by Iranian and Italian producers.”

Rome office is set to help producers use the credit line, he added. 

The agreement was signed in November 2015, during the Italian Government’s business mission to Iran.

This is Saman's first representative office in Europe. The lender has reportedly shown interest in opening branches or offices in India, Turkey, and Germany.

Bank Sepah, Iranian state-owned commercial bank, also has an active branch in Rome.

Capital Intelligence Ratings, last May, affirmed Saman Bank’s Long- and Short-Term Foreign Currency Ratings (FCR) of ‘B’. The Outlook on the Bank’s Long-Term FCR was also changed to ‘Positive’ from ‘Stable’.