Tehran, Paris Reinforce Banking, Reinsurance Ties

The economy ministers of Iran and France discussed expansion of relations between their central banks during a meeting in Tehran on Saturday.

“Iran and France have taken good measures for normalization of commercial and banking relations ... Two Iranian bank branches [Tejarat and Melli] in France have established ties with French lenders … Today we discussed the reestablishment of ties between the central banks of the two countries,” Economy Minister Ali Tayyebnia told reporters in a press conference after the meeting.

Tayyebnia was also quoted as saying by the Economy Ministry’s website that Central Bank of Iran’s Governor Valiollah Seif has been invited to visit the Bank of France to discuss bilateral ties.

“Iran has taken efficient measures to boost the banking system and meet the international anti-money laundering standards,” he said.

“We expect France and European countries to support the removal of Iran’s name from FATF’s blacklist.”

French Economy Minister Michel Sapin also said his country favors normalization of banking relations with Iran.

“We can’t work on developing our economic relations, if we don’t also normalize our banking relations,” AFP quoted him as saying.

The French minister noted that his ministry plans to take new measures to finance French firms’ trade deals with Iranian partners, “though the plan has not yet finalized in the ministry”.

Bank Melli Iran and Tejarat Bank are Iranian lenders with branches in Paris. Both lenders have obtained the permission to operate from the local regulator.

Earlier, Tejarat Bank informed Financial Tribune that it has established correspondent relations with three French banks, including the state-owned La Banque Postale.

 Reinsurance Ties

In another meeting on Saturday, Victor Peignet, chief executive of the French reinsurer SCOR, visited the Central Insurance of Iran’s headquarters in Tehran.

Peignet expressed SCOR’s eagerness to expanding cooperation with Iranian insurance industry, which requires close collaboration with the Central Insurance of Iran, CII’s website reported.

Abdolnasser Hemmati, CII’s president, also pointed to close collaborations with the French reinsurer in previous years, hoping for the revival of ties in line with the nuclear deal Iran reached with world powers.

Back in November, the two officials had a meeting in London, where Hemmati urged action on solving the issues regarding sanctions clauses related to insurance contracts, emphasizing that Iran will not accept any conditions beyond the nuclear deal with the six world powers. SCOR also expressed readiness to hold training courses for Iranian insurance managers on risk management and pricing policies.