Thread: Iraq/Dinar News. 09/05 to 01/14/07

I really don't see why some folks are getting worked up over Knowles opinion. If you look at it, the only difference is that of time. Both trains of thought say there will be a reval and both say it will be on the international market and both say once it hits the market it will go up. If I remember correctly Knowles said it would go "straight up". The only difference is time. The amount of time it takes to close the gap between the lower initial reval and the higher eval. The big thing for me is that they let it go.

Originally Posted by wciappetta

I remember that too. I'm sure they are all associated with the Trade Bank of Iraq if I recall. Besides BofA is handling all of Chases dinar supplies... don't worry about BofA, they smell the blood in the water just like all the rest of the sharks.

[I][COLOR="Blue"]Here's the article in question...

Trade Bank of Iraq - Your Trade and Investment Partner in Iraq

In addition to the five Operating Consortium banks, a group of world-class banking institutions have joined the Trade Bank of Iraq Consortium as Participating Banks. These banks were selected for their geographic breadth, the strength of their trade finance franchise, and their commitment to doing business in the Middle East.

Participating Banks further broaden the client base and global reach of TBI. The larger group of banks is also positioned to engage a wider circle of export credit agencies to provide coverage for exports to Iraq. These banks will also be engaged to line up financing during future phases of the Trade Bank. These banks will also form the nucleus of TBI's correspondent banking relationships.

Akbank TAS .................................................. ............................... (Turkey)
Bank of China .................................................. ........................... (China)
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi .................................................. .......... (Japan)
Calyon .................................................. ...................................... (France)
DBS .................................................. .......................................... (Singapore)
Gruppo SanPaolo IMI S.p.A .................................................. ...... (Italy)
Internationale Nederlanden Group ............................................ (Netherland)
Millennium BCP .................................................. ......................... (Portugal)
Royal Bank of Canada .................................................. .............. (Canada)
Standard Bank Group Limited .................................................. .. (South Africa)
State Bank of India .................................................. .................. (India)
Vneshtorgbank (Bank for Foreign Trade) ....................... (Russia)
Woori Bank .................................................. .............................. (Korea)


Between the Operating Consortium and the Participating Banks, the Trade Bank of Iraq is able to reach every corner of the world. Our Partners presence throughout the world is truly impressive.

Operating Consortium:

While Iraq engages the reconstruction process and rebuilds its credit standing in the global financial community. Five global financial institutions have partnered together to lend their support to the Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI) in its commencement of operations. Their primary role is issuing the letters of credit externally on behalf of TBI to global exporters. In addition, the consortium has provided TBI with the latest technologies and trade finance know-how. These banks have committed to stand by TBI until it is able to issue its letters of credit to world exporters on its own. These banks are:

JPMorgan Chase
Standard Chartered Bank
Australia & New Zealand Bank
Bank Millennium SA
National Bank of Kuwait
Internationale Nederlanden Group
Bank Of Tokyo-Mitsubishi
Calyon
HypoVereinsbank AG.
SanPaolo IMI S.p.A

I'm sorry if this has already been posted. Any guesses as to what they are talking about?

$40 b the Budget For Next Year


17 November 2006 (Al-Sabaah)
Deputy PM Barham Salih declared that, the economical committee in cabinet council and finance ministry working on preparing the federal Iraqi balance sheet for 2007, pointing that there would ensuring new capabilities for re-construction Baghdad.

On the other hand, PM Norri al-Maliki said in a press conference presented by many officials and multi nations forces represents that he ordered all the ministries of releasing money and the balance sheets for re-building the capital of Iraq- Baghdad.

He added that, the Iraqi patient has took along time especially the Baghdadis.

Have just logged on for news of our Dinar investment only to read petty squabbles and numerous posts on which bank does this and which bank doesn't!

How tedious.....

Can we not keep on thread?????

Originally Posted by Caroline

How very kind of you, lol! But I will just assume that Bank of America will change their tune. I'm about 2 hours away from an international airport, so maybe the exchange there would work, too.

Caroline

Who is saying BOA won't exchange? They have always told me and is still telling me that the will exchange as soon as the reval is confirmed.

Originally Posted by choochie

Yep! I can see it now, there is going to be alot of.......



(that's neno on the right)

Didn't know Neno played cricket, lol.

More good stuff today folks. This sticks in my mind, sounds so much like lower denoms.


According to an official source at the Central Bank of Iraq in response to a question from the representative of the new "morning" The source added : there is no intention at this time to change the Iraqi currency is expected that the issuance of new categories of transactions, and according to the requirements of the Iraqi economy to meet the expenses of the state in the next stage.Regarding future plans to address the debt Iraqi source said that Iraq signed agreements with the Paris Club countries to address its debts by reducing 80% of the debt.

Originally Posted by day dreamer

I don't believe this guy knows what he's saying
(1)there already has been several different banks selling, chase, capital one, hibernia,some boa, and more that i can't think of right now. But we have had people post about them going in and buy dinars at these banks.
(2) I can't see US appointing one bank to deal with dinars and make all the profits from everybody cashing in and not allow other banks to do the same thing,
(3) i don't see other main banks allowing 1 bank to gain all the customers that will be opening accounts with them when we go to cash in, and people buying cd's. etc.
(4)when the dinars get on the market the US already knows this is a stable money, it's been monitered, and already saying IQD has been STABLE.
I think your vp doesn't believe in the dinar and is giving his own negative perspective of the dinars.

Well, my guy was making general statements. He is head of Private Banking at our main branch. You have to have $5mil USD to open an account with them.
Didn't mean to start a firestorm.

Let's go back to playing nice.

Here is the article I spoke of in regards to BofA being involved with the Trade Bank of Iraq:

CPA selects Trade Bank
of Iraq winners

A consortium of 13 international banks led by JP Morgan Chase will lead the newly created Trade Bank of Iraq, the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in Iraq announced on 29th August. The CPA has decided to create the Trade Bank to allow Iraqi ministries to begin making big-ticket purchases abroad. The programme is on track to start up in September and is expected to handle annual purchases of hundreds of millions of dollars.
The winning group will be paid about $2 million to run the Trade Bank once a contract is drawn up, and will also benefit from billions of dollars in anticipated business that will eventually flow through the facility, according to Peter McPherson, director of economic development for the CPA. "The real action here isn't the contract to run the trade bank or to oversee the trade bank," McPherson explains. "It is the trade credit that will go through the trade bank."

The winning consortium was picked by an Iraqi-led selection committee that gathered in Bahrain, and contains the following banks: JP Morgan Chase (USA), Credit Lyonnais (France), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (Australia), Standard Chartered Bank (UK), National Bank of Kuwait (Kuwait), Bank Millennium (Poland), Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi (Japan), San Paolo IMI (Italy), Royal Bank of Canada (Canada), La Caixa (Spain), Standard Bank Group (South Africa), Akbank (Turkey), and Banco Comercial Portugues (Portugal).

Nearly 60 banks initially applied to take part in the Trade Bank, and six consortia made it to the final screening, according to US Treasury officials. "There was enormous response to this and it became of intense interest to a large number of banks, reflecting a view...that Iraq is important to these banks," McPherson says. "These banks were making a commercial judgment about the future of Iraq." Bank of America, Bank One, Citigroup, Wachovia and ABN Amro are understood to have led the other five finalist consortia.
Iraqi expertise to be phased in
The Trade Bank will initially work with the government, but is expected to expand to handle private-sector projects as well. McPherson says private-sector purchases will require a different administrative set-up. The Iraqi government will pay for the Trade Bank's operations and will also provide most of its staff. In the long run, the CPA hopes that Iraqis will be able to take on more of the facility's operations. "We are very much looking to Iraqis taking steadily more leadership in this," McPherson says. "There are many people in this country we believe can do it, particularly with some exposure and training."

The Trade Bank will make it possible for Iraq to import major equipment needed for reconstruction by reassuring exporters that they will get paid, Treasury officials have noted. The bank will open with authorised capital of $100 million, 95% of which will come from the UN Iraq development fund. As a result, it will be able to offer payment guarantees on any purchases lined up by the Iraqi government. Treasury officials say that without these payment guarantees, Iraq effectively would be unable to import the food, electrical equipment and oil refining machinery it needs to rebuild. The role that oil revenues will play in the programme has not yet been confirmed.

The Trade Bank has an initial lifetime of 12 months, with the option to extend its contract for another three years. The US hopes that during this time, Iraqi banks will be able to learn how to provide similar assistance, allowing the Trade Bank to scale back to a more limited role. McPherson says that over time, hundreds of banks worldwide will be able to participate in the Trade Bank's programmes. In the initial request for applications to run the Trade Bank, it was estimated that purchases likely would average about $100 million a month to start, rising to as much as $500 million a month as Iraq's oil industry gets back on its feet.

Separately the CPA is collecting preliminary proposals from consultants and financial institutions interested in modernising and managing Iraq's two largest state-run banks: Rafidain Bank and Rasheed Bank. In early August, McPherson commented that "the CPA's aim is to help both banks restructure in order to become commercially viable entities that are both able to operate successfully within a market economy".



In the mood for local debt

International credit ratings agency Moody's Investors Service has announced a new joint venture in Egypt with a local firm, Finance and Banking Consultants (FINBI). The agreement provides for the co-creation of a credit rating agency in Cairo to be called Middle East Rating & Investor Services (MERIS). According to Amr Hassanein, Chairman of FINBI (pictured far right): "MERIS will be in a pre-eminent position to offer local market participants independent credit ratings and analysis that will assist in the allocation of credit in Egypt and the Middle East."

Mike Foley, Senior Managing Director for International Ratings and Research at Moody's (pictured right), says that his agency is always looking for suitable opportunities to partner with local experts, and the fact that FINBI has been issuing its own ratings since 1999 meant that they could see clear opportunities for mutual benefit. Moody's will add value to the local venture by means of its tried and tested ratings metho-dologies and its analyst training programmes.

Theory of relativity
Although Moody's already employs specialist Middle East ratings analysts at its branches in London and Cyprus, Foley believes that there is a need in the market for ‘local' ratings. "The focus of MERIS will be on domestic market ratings and relative risk within the country," he says. "Moody's will still be providing globally comparable international ratings as well, but this new joint venture is a response to significant demand for ratings that are specific to the Egyptian debt markets."

By ‘specific to the Egyptian debt markets' Foley means that the MERIS ratings methodology will differ from that used for international ratings. A key difference, for example, is that the domestic sovereign ceiling will not impact these ratings, which are intended to give issuers a rating relative to their standing in the domestic markets. "MERIS will be developing local benchmarks and it stands to reason that the strongest issuers in the market today will be at the top end of the scale," Foley continues. "We expect that these ratings will primarily interest domestic investors, and potentially international investors who are primarily interested in relative creditworthiness in the Egyptian market."

At this stage Moody's and FINBI are still working to push MERIS through start-up formalities with the Egyptian government. Egypt provides Moody's with a good location for the foundation of MERIS, not only because of the FINBI partnership but also because of the country's long-established capital markets, its economic diversity, and the fact that a number of the largest Arab companies are based locally. Similar joint ventures are already in operation in markets such as Latin America, India, Korea and the Czech Republic, and they afford Moody's the chance to get close to issuers in emerging markets with the aid of local partners.

Though the plans for MERIS' future activities beyond Cairo are still hazy, Moody's does intend to expand the agency's ratings activities across the region as the local capital markets develop. Like Al Mawarid Securities, the Omani firm that set up the Sultanate's own credit rating agency earlier this year (see BME January issue p22), Moody's believes that one of the best ways to stimulate local capital markets is to publish realistic and locally-benchmarked ratings. These ratings help veteran and potential local investors alike to better understand the opportunities available to them at home. Rather than local capital flowing into overseas investments, and rather than local issuers suffering from low grade ratings by international standards, the provision of locally-benchmarked ratings gives issuers fairer treatment when seeking domestic investment. As long as the local ratings have credibility, they can only be a good thing for the Middle East's issuers and investors alike.

Banker Middle East - Your Indispensable Guide to the Regional Banking Industry

Originally Posted by Adster

More good stuff today folks. This sticks in my mind, sounds so much like lower denoms.


According to an official source at the Central Bank of Iraq in response to a question from the representative of the new "morning" The source added : there is no intention at this time to change the Iraqi currency is expected that the issuance of new categories of transactions, and according to the requirements of the Iraqi economy to meet the expenses of the state in the next stage.Regarding future plans to address the debt Iraqi source said that Iraq signed agreements with the Paris Club countries to address its debts by reducing 80% of the debt.

Does anyone else see this? They're saying in order to reval they have to issue new lower denoms before which we knew anyway to move onto the next stage......

Reckon we're so so so close now....