BYPASSING THE SANCTIONS: SYRIA-IRANIAN BANK FACING SCRUTINY
December 1st, 2010
BY PAUL COCHRANE
SYRIA and Iran are both designated by the US state department as sponsors of terrorism, while the countries' major state-run banks are blacklisted by the US Treasury Department, which places the banks under scrutiny and prevents them from dealing with the American financial system. But when plans to create a joint venture bank between the two countries, to be established in the Syrian capital Damascus, was quietly announced in 2008, the deal attracted surprisingly little attention internationally.
This very curious venture has been three years ...
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