One of the three Iranian banks named by the US regulator for illegal dealings with Standard Chartered Bank has been operating in Hong Kong for more than a decade but has been barred from taking new clients here since 2008.
The South China Morning Post yesterday visited the Hong Kong office of Melli Bank and found it was business as usual for the staff members.
Mirakber Ali Abedi, the acting chief executive of Melli Bank, said he has been working for the Iranian bank's Hong Kong operation for 14 years. 'These days we can do nothing other than returning money to our clients,' said Indian-born Abedi.
The bank, which has a Hong Kong Monetary Authority licence, maintains it is waiting for clients to withdraw their deposits.
The HKMA restriction on the bank came after the European Union imposed sanctions on Iran in June 2008.
According to the HKMA website, in December 2005 it granted a banking licence to Melli Bank, which is incorporated in Britain and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bank Melli Iran. Since then, Melli Bank took over all Hong Kong businesses of Bank Melli Iran, which is among the three banks named by New York's department of financial services for alleged illegal dealings with StanChart.