• Economy, Business And Markets

    Joint Bank for Latin America Under Discussion

    Negotiations are underway with Latin American nations to expand the operations of a joint bank with Venezuela to cover the whole Latin America, a banking official said. “The final decision to change the Iran-Venezuela Bi-National Bank to an Iran-Latin America bank and attract new shareholders from Latin America, particularly Brazil, hinges on the outcome of the ongoing talks,” Ali Salehabadi, the chief executive of Export Development Bank of Iran, also told IRNA on Monday. Established in 2010, the bi-national bank’s mission aimed to boost commercial relations and investments between Iran and Latin American nations, but mostly focuses on Venezuela as its board of directors consists of four Venezuelans and four Iranians. Iran’s ability to fully restore its banking relations is being tested by the recent unilateral withdrawal of the United States from the 2015 nuclear deal, which had raised the prospect of an economic revival by lifting sanctions against Iran’s key economic sectors, including banking.