BMI’s Hong Kong Branch Restarts Operations

EghtesadOnline: The Hong Kong branch of Melli Bank London PLC, a subsidiary of Bank Melli Iran, has officially restarted its operations, the chief executive of BMI announced.

News ID: ۷۷۹۳۱۲

19 September 2017

“One of the measures that had to be undertaken to remove hurdles on the way of restarting the activities of the Hong Kong branch was selecting and introducing an independent credit institution to draft a thorough report on the branch’s preparedness,” Mohammad Reza Hosseinzadeh was quoted as saying by the official website of BMI.

According to the CEO of Iran’s biggest bank, the multinational EY (Ernst & Young) was chosen and introduced to the regulatory entities of Hong Kong.

Headquartered in London, EY is one of the largest professional services firms in the world and one of the “Big Four” accounting firms that provides assurance, tax, consultancy and advisory services to companies, Financial Tribune reported.

For the Hong Kong branch to get the green light, it had to adhere to regulations and guidelines notified by EY to get the firm’s approval. Once it complied, it sent the results to the supervisory entity to prove that it has abided by international standards.

“The Hong Kong supervisory entity in turn validated the final report of EY and authorized the Melli Bank PLC branch to offer banking services,” Hosseinzadeh said.

As the official notes, the Hong Kong branch announced the authorization and its commencement of operations on its website on September 15.

“Bank Melli is pleased to announce that its Hong Kong branch is now in a position to offer a wide range of trade-related services to its customers,” reads the aforementioned statement.

The lender also promises to “add value to Iran’s trade ties with China and its fast expanding neighboring economies and the promising prospects of the establishment of the Belt and Road Initiative”.

In conclusion, Hosseinzadeh pointed out that obtaining the permit to reopen the branch entailed removing numerous problems that persisted in the eyes of the Hong Kong supervisory entity and also required the assistance of Mehdi Fakheri, Iran’s consul general in Hong Kong and Macau.