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phlip

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  1. This stagnant period that Warka is going through right now is certainly frustrating. It’s now been over 36 months of insolvency and over 9 months since the Iraqi Supreme Court ordered the CBI to lift the Custodianship over Warka, and deposit sufficient compensation funds to restore Warka’s solvency and finally, to publicly restore Warka Bank’s reputation as a solid bank. So far, all the CBI has done is lift the Custodianship (5 months late); and now with no appeals left, the CBI Board of Directors stand obligated to comply with the rest of the order ~ pay up and restore the Warka reputation. For Warka’s Board Members, it’s really all over except for the actual receipt of the cash and a big fat (useful for business) apology. There are no more appeals to be submitted, and no more oversight by way of Custodianship allowed for the CBI. Time to say “Sorry” and pay up, period. So why hasn’t the CBI made good on what it was ordered to do? If all the conflict going on in Iraq right now is any indication, it may be that really the only thing holding back the proper transfer of the necessary funds (both IQD and USD) from the CBI to Warka (and then eventually from Warka back to us) is the fact that the Shia dominated CBI, GOI and MOF feel that they can just take their sweet time handing over anything to that ole Sunni dominated Warka Bank for Investment and Finance. I also suspect that the Shia/Sunni bitterness may have even been the root cause of the CBI attacking Warka in the first place, years ago ~ and consequently is now still causing this mess. Right now, there is simply no incentive for the CBI to do what the court ordered it to do, and at the same time currently there is no leverage which Warka can use to make them do it ~ other than just retain ownership of the 120 branches and the 350 ATM machines that the CBI definitely needs as infrastructure in order for Iraq to move up to international banking standards. Warka still needs those funds from the CBI to be solvent; but IMO, without that Warka electronic infrastructure, any CBI attempt to RD or RV will likely fail. The IQD is already a fiat currency; may as well have the digital speed of transfer to go along with it or Iraq won’t be able to keep up with international standards of all the rest of the fiat currencies. The CBI will have to restore Warka to solvency before any major currency changes can happen ~ just to help facilitate the change without causing more mass rioting in the streets. Iraq is still mostly an all cash society and right now there’s a critical demand for more IQD cash on the street, especially in the north inside Kurdistan. The CBI has been deliberately withholding IQD from Kurdistan in an effort to get them to knuckle under and look where that policy has gotten them. As an alternative, everyone is turning to USD cash and especially to continue any trading across borders. Kurdistan has a tanker full of oil docked at a Texas port waiting to off-load right now. Maliki has convinced a US Judge to have the tanker temporarily impounded so Kurdistan can’t earn any USD without involving Baghdad; but, since there is no HCL in place to determine portions that move could easily backfire on him. That tanker could become a political hostage for a long time. More proof that those dinar currency countries right around Iraq, still prefer to be paid in petro dollars when selling their oil and other goods cross-country is the fact that when ISIS took Mosul, they robbed the main bank there of US$427 Million, not IQD427 Million. I would venture to say that the current CBI effort to solve the cash shortage in Iraq by redesigning and reprinting new high denomination bills (with improved security features and in 3 languages), is indeed a step closer to a real currency redenomination; but right now, the GOI and the CBI will be even less interested in issuing brand new lower denomination bills with improved features than they ever were before. The CBI has publicly stated that it doesn’t intend to address the redenomination process until at least 2016 and that’s only if the security and stability of the country will allow it. For USD international transfers to happen it will take more than just Warka solvency. Warka is dependent on having correspondent banks in the other countries that it is allowed to transfer USD funds to. Most of those other country’s central banks are not allowing correspondence with Warka right now because it is still insolvent; so, the inability of Warka clients to access funds via an international wire transfer of USD can be open or closed at either end of the transfer. I’d like to think that there will still be some way to successfully communicate with Warka in the near future despite them being in such a suspended animation state that they don’t even answer most emails lately. Because of language barriers and the nuisance of answering so many different emails, I suspect the Warka staff is depending heavily on the latest news streaming on the home page of the Warka website to be the answer to whatever depositors might need to know and therefore have stopped answering most emails. Because of the insolvency issue and having to wait on the CBI, Warka Bank still cannot do the following with its frozen depositor accounts: Sell a Certificate of Deposit to a depositor Allow an Internal Transfer of Funds from one Warka account to another Allow a purchase or sale of ISX stocks through their in-house brokerage Allow outgoing funds via any of the Warka bank cards. Allow any letters of credit to be established Without internationally approved and transparent financial solvency and without an official stamp of approval from the various central banks and countries that have allowed Warka to do business in the past (especially the FED with all its FACTA entitlement attitudes) no one will be able to transfer USD funds out of Warka to their home banks. All depositors are still accumulating 7% on IQD and 4% on USD and those gains are still posted every 6 months. Not sure where that money is coming from unless the CBI is still faithfully paying Warka their share of that very same interest earned and Warka is still faithfully passing it on to us. Compounded interest adds up quickly when not disturbed, but that still doesn’t mean much until the flow of fund has been restored. Even if a Warka depositor has a designated Warka Correspondence Bank Account in another country that is not directly under FED control, such as Canada or UAE (Dubai) or Jordan, or Germany; still, no USD transfer of funds will be allowed out of Warka without that final FED approval on Warka’s insolvency ~ and that’s including even in the event of an IQD currency redenomination and/or an IQD currency revaluation. The Fed issued the notes and has final say on redeeming them ~ I guess. It’s not a pretty picture, but at least our funds are still intact and earning interest compounded monthly; and they will automatically be adjusted to any RD or RV that happens ~ just as the number of any ISX stock shares we own will also be adjusted accordingly if either of those two events happen. Let’s hope that the CBI either wakes up and gets going with its obligations or is eventually forced into doing so politically. Warka could even be looked at as a microcosm of the bigger picture in that when Warka gets fixed the political situation should also be stabilizing.
  2. If you’ve recently tried to log on to your Warka account and have gotten this message: “ACCOUNT HAS EXPIRED, PLEASE CONTACT THE BANK” it probably means that you haven’t bothered to log on to your account in over a year. I’d like to think that there is still some way to successfully communicate with Warka despite them being in such a suspended animation state that they don’t even answer most emails lately. Because of language barriers and the nuisance of answering so many different emails, I suspect the Warka staff is depending heavily on the latest news streaming on the home page of the Warka website to be the answer to whatever depositors might need to know and therefore have stopped answering most emails. Whatever the case, let’s assume that the “ACCOUNT EXPIRED” message doesn’t mean that your account has been closed, and the funds confiscated ~ it’s just Warka’s idea of a wake-up call for not paying enough attention to your account. Let’s also assume that it’s only your e-banking subscription that has expired and as per instructions in the error message, you will need to contact the bank to renew it. Because of the new security measures that Warka has introduced to the logging on process, they have brought the on-line security up to international transfer standards and each depositor now has more of a responsibility to maintain their own accounts by changing the password at least every fiscal quarter. No renewal process other than changing the password, and no annual fee ~ just pay more attention to your accounts, Habibi. Right now, to get back into the Warka e-banking system you’ll probably have to do the Application to Renew e-banking subscription one final time to let Warka know that you haven’t abandoned your accounts and that you are still interested in logging on to them. In the past, whenever I have renewed my e-banking subscription I never once received a confirmation email from Warka or had the IQD15000 deducted from my account; but, my password always started working again within a few days of the Application to Renew. Once you’re able to log on again, you will see that as part of the new security features the last date that you logged on to your account, plus your next password renewal date are both displayed on your account’s home page. No excuses for not knowing, now. A very polite, slightly apologetic tone to both your signed Application and to the body of your email that you send; along with a very specific and clear naming of the attached pdf/jpg files, will go a long way in expediting what is basically a nuisance request. We hope. Here is a suggestion for the email: _________________________________________________________________ To: e-bank@warka-bank-iq.com CC: ifrd@warka-bank-iq.com and c.services@warka-bank-iq.com Subject: (your 6 digit account #) E-Banking Services Subscription Renewal E-Banking Services Department International Foreign Relations Customer Services Department Dear Sirs: My E-banking Subscription has expired, but now I wish to be able to view my accounts again; and especially considering that Warka Bank’s latest security measures to access accounts have been so greatly upgraded. I apologize for any inconvenience on your part, but I would greatly appreciate your help in being able to temporarily re-use my expired password so that I might log on again and change to a new password. I now understand that I will then need to renew or change my password at least every three months in order to keep my accounts current and to be in compliance with Warka Bank’s latest account security features. Attached to this transmission, please find my signed Application to Renew my Subscription to Warka Bank’s E-banking Services and also a True Copy of my color ID with which your compliance department can verify my identity. Thank you very much for your help and for your kind attention to my accounts. My Very Best Regards, Your Full Account Name (over) Your 6 digit account # ________________________________________________________________________________________________ It would be best if you can send the exact copy of your ID that you used to open the account, so that it matches perfectly with the files that Warka has on record. Here is a suggestion for the Application to Renew that you could print, sign, scan, name and attach to the email: _________________________________________________________________ Application to Renew Expired E-banking Services To: Warka Bank for Investment and Finance Attn: Mr. Ashraf Amr e-bank@warka-bank-iq.com Re: Expired E- banking Subscription for 790/000000/1/2521/0 I, (Type Your Full Name Here), respectfully request Warka Bank for Investment and Finance to please kindly re-new my Subscription to E-Banking Services so that I might temporarily re-use my existing (expired) password in order to log on to e-banking and change my password in order to comply with the current Warka Bank security standards. I look forward to once again being able to access my Warka Bank accounts on-line. Thank you for your kind attention to my accounts. Best and Warmest Regards, ________________________________________ Date: _________________________ Type Your Signature Name Here __________________________________________________________________ Once you’ve sent an Application to Renew, it probably would be a good idea to attempt to log on to your Warka account at least once a day until the system again allows you to renew or change your password and access your accounts. If this method actually works to restore access to an expired account, any feedback about it might also serve to help others with the same problem. This stagnant period that Warka is going through right now is certainly frustrating for all concerned. It’s now been over 36 months of insolvency and over 9 months since the Iraqi Supreme Court decision ordering the CBI to lift the Custodianship, deposit compensation funds sufficient enough to restore Warka’s solvency and publicly restore Warka Bank’s reputation as a solid bank. So far, all the CBI has done is lift the Custodianship (5 months late); and so now with no appeals left, the CBI Board of Directors stand obligated to comply with the rest of the order ~ pay up and restore the reputation. If all the conflict going on in Iraq right now is any indication, it may be that really the only thing holding back the proper transfer of the necessary funds (both IQD and USD) from the CBI to Warka (and then eventually from Warka back to us) is the fact that the Shia dominated CBI, GOI and MOF feel that they can just take their sweet time handing over anything to that ole Sunni dominated Warka Bank for Investment and Finance. I also suspect that the Shia/Sunni bitterness may have even been the root cause of the CBI attacking Warka in the first place, years ago ~ and consequently causing this mess. Can’t we all just get along?
  3. This link works https://onlinebanking.warka-bank-iq.com/IBS/index.jsp This one doesn’t www.warkaonline.com/IBS/index.jsp This one doesn’t work either https://onlinebankin...m/IBS/index.jsp
  4. It looks like the CBI is actually introducing new IQD banknotes with improved security features, but in the same denominations that already exist: 25,000, 10,000, 5000, 1000, 500, 250. Here’s the link: http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2014/05/01/new-dinars-have-improved-anti-forgery-features/ This next article has been posted before in another topic but here is a fresher, easier to understand translation: CBI: The deletion of zeroes from the currency is linked to the stability of the situation The governor of the Central Bank, Abdel Basset Turki, said Friday that the project to delete the zeroes from the Iraqi currency will not be implemented until the stability of the political and the economic situation of the country warrants it. He denies the issuance of any new decision by the CBI in this regard. Turki said "The Central Bank will proceed without hesitation to implement the project to delete the zeroes from the local currency when the political and economic situation of the country has settled". He added that "The implementation of such a project needs to arrange all the accounts and records of the Iraqi State in a way that provides a smooth flow of work and maintains the price of the currency in the local market before starting any move to change the status of the currency”. Turki said that "Talk is not just about the deleting of the zeroes, because the currency change will rearrange the entire government records and change the accounts that deal with public spending”. He again denied the issuance of any new resolution from the Central Bank regarding the deletion of zeroes from the currency”. He referred to the Central Bank canceling an earlier project to restructure the Iraqi currency next year which would delete the zeroes of three of the existing bank notes, because the time is not yet appropriate; indicating that the project is implemented through coordination with the Iraqi government and its relevant institutions. Related News Central Bank Governor: Work in the private banking sector has so far not lived up to the required level Rise in Central Bank sales of dollar Central Bank agrees to open accounts directly for money transfer companies Here’s the link to the original Arabic language posting: http://alghadpress.com/ar/news/13263/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D9%86%D9%83-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D9%83%D8%B2%D9%8A-%D8%AD%D8%B0%D9%81-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B5%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%85%D9%84%D8%A9 I’m not sure where the excitement about the deletion of zeroes from the current banknotes comes from, anyway. That particular scenario is called a re-denomination (RD) not a revaluation (RV) and at best would be a neutral event for anyone (including Iraqi citizens) holding IQD cash. I can find nothing in this particular topic or in either of these two articles above to indicate a revaluation of the existing high denomination banknotes. In fact, the last sentence of this topic is very telling if it has been translated correctly: “He stressed that the bank is keen to be Iraq's banking system during the first half of the year 2015 completely unprepared to receive all modern services and advanced applications in the banking world”. The first half of the year 2015 sounds like a year from now and at the same time it sounds like the CBI is still “completely unprepared to receive all modern services and advanced applications in the banking world”.
  5. It looks like the CBI is actually introducing new IQD banknotes with improved security features, but in the same denominations that already exist: 25,000, 10,000, 5000, 1000, 500, 250. Here’s the article and its link: New Dinars Have Improved Anti-Forgery Features Iraq is introducing new Iraqi Dinar notes with improved security features, such as guarantee ribbons and the internationally used SPARK feature. The Central Bank of Iraq treasury director Ihsan Shamran al-Yasseri announced the move, noting that this was a positive step forward that would help strengthen the currency. The new notes, to be used alongside the old until they are phased out, will include 250, 500 and 1,000 Iraqi dinar denominations as well as larger denominations of 5000, 10,000 and 25,000 dinars. Al-Yasseri said of the move: “The new currency, of which the small value ones have been offered for circulation, is not much different in form from the notes currently being used by the public. But these are infused with safer and more effective technical specifications containing security symbols and many technical characteristics that will give the notes longer life and make it difficult or almost impossible to counterfeit. Many of the present currency notes have become overused and it was necessary to renew them with the addition of features that would make the notes more able to effectively resist the constant circulation as well as attempts at forgery.” http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2014/05/01/new-dinars-have-improved-anti-forgery-features/
  6. Elections for Prime Minister of Iraq are supposed to have happened by the end of April 2014, but with all the possible arguing about who really got elected (and how) and then the subsequent appeals and Supreme Court Decisions lasting for several months afterward we might not really know for sure who the new dictator is ~ and it may even be sometime into 2015 before the final winner is declared. Kind of like some Amrikan elections (Bush vs Gore) turn out like ~ only different. In the end it will be Maliki or whomever the cabal of ruling International Oil & Gas Corporations figure will do them the most good in that part of the world. Maliki is a known “weak dinar” advocate and because of that it’s quite possible that he will be elected again for a third term because a weak dinar in fact is good for the economy of Iraq. All of Maliki’s financial advisors should be telling him that a weak dinar is good for the economy of Iraq ~ because it really is. If Iraq maintains the cheapest dinar in a region where the Dinar is often the official currency, then other countries outside of the region will prefer Iraqi exports; including of course, Iraqi Oil. A prime and on-going example of a country keeping its own currency “weak” with respect to the dominant currencies such as the USD, JPY, GBP, etc. is China. We are constantly hearing stories of one politician or another reprimanding China for artificially keeping its currency value low so that China continues to be the world’s #1 exporter. At one time in history, the USA was considered to be the world’s #1 exporter because its currency was considered “weak” against others, but during that time the entire country prospered and USA companies expanded globally ~ just as China is flourishing and Brand China is expanding now. Another reason Maliki may be elected again is that for at least the last 30 plus years the Iraqi citizens have been under the thumb of one strong man or another. Maliki is familiar to them, because he is acting like a modern day strong man; but manages to keep that thin veneer of duly elected Prime Minister in place for the west and where it needs to be when he’s back in Baghdad. His moves are familiar to the populace (including his opponents dying in accidents and/or getting snuffed legally), but this time around most Iraqi’s realize that the whole world is still watching for the result of this very peculiar social experiment of sprouting and supporting a western “citizen rule” style of government right smack down in the middle of kingdoms run by hard men for the benefit of only themselves and their immediate families and any other royals relatives (as long as those other royals remained loyal to the king). This whole idea of actually giving peasants a say in how things are done around here, just isn’t done around here ~ if you know what I mean. Because more Iraqis are now more aware that the world is watching, they have the option of acting for their constitutional rights and (possibly) getting away with it; however, as that kind of protest usually has to express itself in armed conflict in Iraq, any protest can’t last very long before it will be suppressed. At the top of the heap now, and in order to blend in with his fellow strong-arm rulers, Maliki needs the freedom to throw his weight around to get what he wants and so far all the Iraqi politicians are allowing him to get away with whatever he needs to do so long as they get to keep their posh jobs and gated compounds with armed escorts to and from work and play. Maliki seems to want to comply with the New World Order where peasants don’t get to have a voice anymore (including in Amrika, Canada, The UK or any other supposedly sovereign region) and therefore will probably be supported internationally; but only as long as he can continue to control the Oil Flow and the rowdy peasants in Iraq. Maliki has almost single handedly managed to defy the Western Constitution imposed on Iraq by culling the GOI down to a disorganized and highly fractionalized and tribalized Iraqi Council of Representatives (like the US House of Representatives or the British House of Commons) plus his own self appointed (and loyal) Council of Ministers (like the US President’s Cabinet or the British Prime Minister’s Council of Ministers) acting in place of the never established Federation Council (think US Senate or British House of Lords). Maliki’s got a pretty good grip on the process now; and also the vanity to want to put his stamp on Iraq before he retires to behind the scenes control as he becomes the “Henry Kissinger” of the Middle East. A couple of books, a few speaking tours and it’ll be the 7 Star life in Dubai for ole Maliki. As long as he continues to play ball with the International Oil Companies that now have quite a substantial say in how politics are done in Iraq, he can stay Prime Minister as long as he likes and treat his fellow Iraqis however he likes ~ at least as far as those CEO’s are concerned. Just don’t let anything interrupt the ‘Oil Flow’ or he’ll be out on his ear, Mate. The dinar can certainly be redenominated and/or revalued against the USD and still remain “weak” relative to the USD. There’s plenty of room between the current rate of US$0.0008576 per dinar and the possible future rate of US$0.85 per dinar (after the CBI re-denominates the currency) to call any re-denomination movement a simultaneous re-value movement. Even at US$0.85 per IQD there is still room to move up to close to an on-par exchange rate of close to 1 to 1; yet still remain “weak” relative to the USD. Examples of that happening today are the Japanese Yen and the Canadian Dollar both of which hover around 1 to 1 with the USD. Friends and neighbors, eh? Those of us with Warka accounts will automatically benefit from any increase in the exchange rate especially any above US$0.85 per IQD and then any upwards movement to 1 to 1 and beyond. Howsomever, Bail-Out Barry and his fellow knuckleheads haven’t quite finished yet with the original agenda that they started with as soon as he took office; because, in 2010 H.R. 2847 The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act was signed and goes into effect July 2014. The FATCA requires full disclosure by all Foreign Banks holding accounts held by U.S citizens outside the US Federal Reserve System. Offshore financial institutions will be required to provide a 1099 form to the IRS for any of their American Customers. Who needs a Military to conquer the world when you have the FED and the IRS? Under FATCA, all banks (including any Foreign Banks outside of the direct control of the Federal Reserve System) will be forced to submit information on total assets, account balances, transactions, account numbers and other personal identifying information. A person has to wonder about the force of the FED when it comes to its ability to by-pass foreign governments in order to directly pressure any other foreign financial institution/central bank it chooses to; including the IMF, The World Bank, and The Bank of International Settlements (BIS). As any Warka account holder knows, Warka Bank holds a substantial bit of personal information on all of its depositors just as any other bank in the world does, but I’m betting Warka has strict privacy standards due to the international blend of its depositors and will very reluctantly be bullied into giving up that information. When Warka gets going again, the Bunnia Family with its 56% stake in Warka can do some substantial shoving back of its own. They just beat the CBI in a lawsuit all the way through the Iraqi Financial System Supreme Court; and including all appeal processes, so I’m of the opinion that they can hold their own if it comes to Court decisions on their own turf. Regardless of how all that goes, we may take some small comfort in knowing that we small time depositors aren’t exactly alone in this IQD deal. Apparently, the US Army, which also wants its dough back from Warka, will also be under IRS scrutiny when it comes to having accounts in foreign Banks ~ or then again, maybe not. Whatever the case, check out this article: ________________________________________________________________ Warka May Cost US Army Millions Like a replay of the Great Depression, a bank in Iraq went under in 2010, nearly taking millions of American dollars with it. According to a report from the Washington Times, Iraq’s Al-Warka Bank was already having stability problems when the U.S. began to close all its accounts as part of the withdrawal of troops from Iraq. The Pentagon’s internal inspector general has said that since the bank was placed in receivership in November 2010, the US Army has been unable to readily withdraw cash. The estimated loss of $5.4 million is only now coming to light because the disbursing officer in charge of the funds never reported the loss, the Inspector General said, “Because she believed she would recover these funds in the future.” About $1.1 million has been repaid so far by the bank, inspectors said, but not getting the proper Defense Department debt payment experts involved immediately puts the rest of the cash — $5.4 million — at risk. http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2014/04/18/warka-may-cost-us-army-millions/ ________________________________________________________________ As far as I’m concerned, instead of being scary, this article represents a positive outlook on recovering our USD investments from Warka. The US Army is not going to want to be stiffed out of $5.2 Million especially as US DOD budgets tighten up; and I doubt if the Bunnia Clan will want to be known as the only outfit that publicly stiffed the US Army in Iraq. Not a very good way to attract foreign investment; especially for a bank that calls itself Warka Bank for Investment and Finance. Just the fact that the US Army has such a substantial account (which will continue to earn a minimum of US$364,000 per year until it is withdrawn) I think will be enough pressure for the CBI and Warka to eventually start to ‘act right’ when it comes to repaying depositors; especially when you consider that they are obligated to treat all depositors the same. The CBI has already been ordered to lift the “Guardianship/Custodianship” status from Warka, to pay back the dough necessary to get Warka solvent and operating normally again and finally to fix Warka’s public reputation as a stable, reliable, safe financial institution worth investing in. That was in September 2013; but as of April 2014, all the CBI has done so far is to lift the Guardianship censure in Iraq and in the Lebanon ~ Beruit. No word yet on when Warka can expect to get an IQD or a USD deposit from the CBI. Ramadan is early this year, just as Easter was late. Ramadan starts at Sunset June 28 and ends at Sunset July 28 ~ approximately. So there’s still a little over 2 months yet before Iraqi politicians can use the Ramadan excuse for not getting anything done. If us private investors and the US Army can’t get our dough out of Warka before the end of June at least we’ll all still get our 6 month infusion of savings account interest. Don’t forget to keep up with your online password renewal every 3 months as part of Warka’s upgraded security measures. There’s no more authorizing for a IQD15,000 annual fee (if in fact that fee was ever really taken); but, Warka still requires us to renew/change the password every 3 months now and from now on. It used to be that you could log on to your Warka Account and from the menu displays on the left side of the page choose Inquiries. The drop down menu displayed used to include the option of transferring funds from your USD Account to your IQD Account and back again ~ it doesn’t anymore. At the very bottom of that same menu display used to be a tab with which to view you ISX Account ~ it’s not there anymore. Basically, everything is frozen at Warka except the renewal of passwords with which to view your account. Sure would be nice to buy an IQD CD, or an ISX Stock, or to transfer a few bucks out in order to buy some gold bullion right now.
  7. Maliki is a known “weak dinar” advocate and because of that it’s quite possible that he will be elected again for a third term because a weak dinar in fact is good for the economy of Iraq. All of Maliki’s financial advisors should be telling him that a weak dinar is good for the economy of Iraq ~ because it is. If Iraq maintains the cheapest dinar in town, then other countries will prefer Iraqi exports; including of course, Iraqi Oil. A prime and on-going example of a country keeping its own currency “weak” with respect to the dominant currencies such as the USD, JPY, GBP, etc. is China. We are constantly hearing stories of one politician or another reprimanding China for artificially keeping its currency value low so that China continues to be the world’s #1 exporter. At one time in history, the USA was considered to be the world’s #1 exporter because its currency was considered “weak” against others, but during that time the entire country prospered and USA companies expanded globally ~ just as China is flourishing and Brand China is expanding now. Another reason Maliki may be elected again is that for at least the last 30 plus years the Iraqi citizens have been under the thumb of one strong man or another. Maliki is familiar to them, because he is acting like a modern day strong man; but manages to keep that thin veneer of duly elected Prime Minister in place for the west and where it needs to be when he’s back in Baghdad. His moves are familiar to the populace (including his opponents dying in accidents and/or getting snuffed legally), but this time around most Iraqi’s realize that the whole world is still watching for the result of this very peculiar social experiment of sprouting a western “citizens’ rule” style of government right smack in the middle of kingdoms run by hard men for the benefit of themselves, their immediate families and any other royals (as long as the other royals remained loyal to the king). This whole idea of giving actual peasants a say in how things are done around here, just isn’t done around here ~ if you know what I mean. Because the Iraqis are now more aware that the world is watching, they have the option of acting for their constitutional rights and (possibly) getting away with it. At the top of the heap now, and in order to blend in with his fellow rulers, Maliki needs the freedom to throw his weight around to get what he wants and so far all the Iraqi politicians are allowing him to get away with whatever he needs to do so long as they get to keep their posh jobs with armed escorts to and from work and play, and gated compounds, etc. Maliki has almost single handedly managed to defy the western constitution imposed on Iraq with this style of “citizens’ rule” by culling the GOI down to a disorganized and highly fractionalized and tribalized Iraqi Council of Representatives (like the US House of Representatives or the British House of Commons) plus his own self appointed (and loyal) Council of Ministers (like the US President’s Cabinet or the British Prime Minister’s Council of Ministers) acting in place of the never established Federation Council (think US Senate or British House of Lords). Maliki’s got a pretty good grip on the process now; and also the vanity to want to put his stamp on Iraq before he retires to behind the scenes control as he becomes the “Henry Kissinger” of the Middle East. A couple of books, a few speaking tours and it’ll be the 7 star life for ole Maliki. As long as he continues to play ball with the International Oil Companies that now have quite a substantial say in how politics are done in Iraq, he can stay Prime Minister as long as he likes and treat his fellow Iraqis however he likes ~ at least as far as those CEO’s are concerned. Just don’t let anything interrupt the flow or he’ll be out on his ear, mate. The dinar can certainly be redenominated and/or revalued against the USD and still remain “weak”. There’s plenty of room between the current rate of US$0.0008576 per dinar and the possible future rate of US$0.85 per dinar to revalue upwards; yet still remain “weak”.
  8. It used to be that you could log on to your Warka Account and from the menu displays on the left side of the page choose Inquiries. The drop down menu displayed used to include the option of transferring funds from your USD Account to your IQD Account and back again ~ it doesn’t anymore. At the very bottom of that same menu display used to be a tab with which to view you ISX Account ~ it’s not there anymore. Basically, everything is frozen at Warka except the renewal of passwords with which to view your account.
  9. Adam, are there any exactly specific steps to be made by either the CBI or the MOF or the GOI that we should be looking for that will tell us that progress is being made toward IQD International Tradability at a new rate?
  10. In 2004 the CBI was chartered for and is therefore obligated (then and now) to promote the IQD’s value against the USD while at the same time continuing to make progress in de-dollarizing Iraq. It’s publicly stated intentions have always been just that; including the eventual issuance of new lower denomination, internationally tradable IQD notes which are supposed to have a higher exchange value (than the large denomination Bremmer’s) against the USD. By now the Directors of the CBI, in conjunction with the GOI/MOF were supposed to have already brought the financial affairs of Iraq (including having a viable, tradable, international currency) into compliance with the IMF and the World Bank financial (transparency) rules that the other (approximately) 170 IMF member countries follow. The CBI started its second (supposedly final) two year probationary period, called a Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) in February 2010; and that SBA was supposed to have ended in February 2012. The CBI asked for and received 2 extensions to that particular SBA ~ the first for 5 months and the second for 7 months. The second extension ended a year ago in February 2013 ~ a year later than the (second) SBA probationary period was supposed to have ended in the first place. Now, in February 2014, it’s another year later, and I have no idea whether the CBI got yet another extension from the IMF and/or is still under a SBA; or if they finally passed all the compliance tests to become fully fledged members of the central banking community. An IMF declared end to any Iraqi SBA probationary period is probably only going to happen if Iraq has a respectable international currency and the CBI has some working electronic banking procedures in place to back it up. At this point, at the beginning of 2014, with Warka still down for the count and with no CBI publicly stated intention of processing even an internal RD, let alone an international RV this year, I’d say there has been another extension request from the CBI, and/or a brand new (3rd) chance, two year SBA offered by the IMF to Iraq with a stipulated amount loaned to Iraq through the World Bank in order to see the CBI through the probationary period ~ again. But that’s just a guess, and hopefully the new loan from the World Bank will include enough to make Warka whole again. If there is a 3rd two year SBA in place, then we may be looking at February of 2015 before the CBI is really free to RV and/or exchange currencies internationally. The UN and the IMF and the World Bank are certainly not going to allow the CBI to mix currencies with the rest of the international community until Iraq has completed a satisfactory financial probationary period and can demonstrate an ability to trade for goods and services globally and with its own currency managed through the CBI.
  11. ReinMan That’s an excellent question that I’d also like to know the answer to, so that I can watch for the signs of it actually happening. Rather than the exact steps to IQD international tradability, we might have to instead look at some another country’s situation to have a benchmark with which to compare to Iraq. For example, from Japan I once took an R&R to Taiwan. Leaving Japan, I converted my Japanese Yen (JPY) to USD and entering Taiwan, I converted USD to Taiwan Dollars (TWD). Leaving Taiwan, I didn’t take the time to convert my TWD to either USD or to JPY. Later, in Japan, when I tried to convert my TWD back to JPY, I found that no Japanese bank or Japanese currency exchange shop would touch the TWD. I even tried Citibank in Japan, but they wouldn’t exchange it either. Arriving stateside, I found that no US bank or airport currency exchange booth that I tried then (in 1997) would convert the TWD, either. Both the Japanese and the US bans on the TWD speak to both countries having the same foreign policy with regards to China. Don’t piss of the Chinese mainland folks who (still) consider Taiwan to be part of China. Don’t openly trade with the Taiwanese either or there will be consequences. So, the TWD is just one example of a potentially internationally tradable currency that sometimes isn’t ~ despite there being “Made in Taiwan” labels everywhere and despite the fact that Taiwan has a unique culture, a robust tourist industry and a relatively well equipped military force which they aren’t afraid to show off every once in a while. In Iraq’s case, and especially because of the oil, it might be that the countries that serve as home bases for the 30 plus international oil companies which have now bid for and won contracts to drill for oil inside Iraq (including in Kurdistan) would certainly have to agree on any CBI proposed international exchange rate against the reigning currency of the area ~ the FED’s own USD banknotes, aka Petrodollars. I think that cross trading without an international currency standard to adhere to (against the USD/Petrodollar, for example) would be extremely difficult. The IMF actually has its own Special Drawing Rights (SDR) electronic currency (representing the average of several select countries’ basket of currencies) which could also serve as a bridge currency if the need arose and/or the USD was no longer needed/wanted in a given area of new development. Then again there’s always the Bitcoin. Iraq as the current default leader (since Egypt and Libya got themselves ousted) and also one of the (1945) founding members of the 22 country Arab League of Nations may be asked to also front a coalition of countries which all use the dinar; with the idea of the IQD setting the rate against the USD ~ based on its accessibility to oil. Perhaps the idea of that particular basket of (dinar only) currencies becoming a global reserve currency backed by oil and as an alternative to the USD (backed by a printing press) is also in the plan. So far, I’ve only heard of that plan in the form of a possible proposal ~ which doesn’t mean it still couldn’t actually happen sometime in the future. The IQD would certainly have to be internationally tradable then, wouldn’t it? Without actually doing the research on it, I would still venture to say that most of the countries which now have home based international oil companies drilling for oil in Iraq are also among the G-20, the G-8, the G-7, etc. countries which make up the top echelon of the 170 or so countries belonging to the IMF and/or the World Bank. The IMF offices and the World Bank as well as the most powerful of the 12 regional banks of the FED are all located in New York City; which certainly demonstrates the FED’s home court advantage over the other central banks of the world. Those countries in the top echelon of the IMF all have central banks controlling their currencies and at the top of that list of those central banks is the FED controlling the Petrodollar ~ which represents approximately 2/3 of the total available currency worldwide. I would further venture to say that in the end it will be first up to the Board of Directors of the FED to agree to whatever international exchange rate the CBI proposes for the IQD against the USD; before that proposed rate will ever actually become internationally effective. The usual secret shenanigans benefiting all the greedy buggers at the top will have to take place behind the scenes and then the decision will reach the Board of Directors at the CBI so that they can announce and implement the acceptable new rate to Iraq and to the rest of the international community with some authority and dignity. At the same time, the FED can’t just run over everybody else with some whimsical decision on the CBI proposed rate, since at any given time individual sovereign countries could still vote to treat the IQD (which will remain pegged to the USD) just like the US, Japanese and Chinese central banks and governments currently treat the TWD. If the top three economies in the world refuse to exchange currencies with the TWD, the only way that I can see that Taiwan remains independent and with a viable global economy is through a certain reliance on the USD as its intermediating currency. The CBI is already on record for declaring that they hope to end any dependence on the USD and in fact plan to de-dollarize Iraq permanently. In order for the most powerful economies in the world to get along about international exchange rates between their currencies, it probably takes lots of reports and vast amounts of number crunching to support each individual country’s most desirable rate against the Petrodollar ~ all of which has to be presented with some amount of transparency at some international summit or another. As far as I know, the G-20 Summit usually takes place sometime in the fall of each year and exchange rate adjustments between the major currencies is usually on the agenda. It may be that whatever the CBI decides for the IQD inside Iraq, whether it’s called re-denomination, or re-value, or whatever; the international tradability status of the IQD will still ultimately depend on the central banks of the top echelon of countries in the IMF and the World Bank; and specifically those central banks among the G-20 countries accepting the new CBI proposed rate ~ or not. Even as an internationally traded currency, the IQD might not be sought after enough to be exchanged in every single country (including in the USA) ~ but that could turn out to be an individual bank by bank decision, too. As long as petrodollars remain available and accepted in a wider range of countries, why would a person hold any electronic IQD at all? In the case of Warka, IMO, it’s because of the interest rates offered and also the possibility of getting an automatic electronic bump in value whenever an RD/RV takes place. Also, it seems that you can only hold IQD electronically in banks based in Iraq; mostly because no other bank in any other country is authorized by its own central bank to open an IQD account for you. A possible exception might be that certain Swiss banks oblige qualified customers by holding a physical deposit of IQD banknotes with the agreement that the customer can exchange them at any time at whatever the true rate is. An even bigger step for Iraq would be for the IQD to become a sought after international reserve currency, but if oil is still sold mainly in petrodollars, even after an official Iraqi IQD RD/RV; then the IQD as a reserve currency might not happen anytime too soon. Once the necessary machinery is back on line ~ with Warka open for business again ~ anything can happen in Iraq. 120 branches and 350 ATM’s is a good start for the Iraqis to start using electronic banking with debit cards (in addition to cash), so that any RD/RV will run more smoothly. It will also mean that some kind of a workable exchange rate has been reached for the IQD vs. the USD (at least) inside Iraq ~ and that would in turn serve to curb the fluctuations and some black marketeering happening in the open (cash) marketplaces. A steady exchange rate between the IQD and the USD inside Iraq which is dictated by well operated and functioning ATM machines could certainly pave the way for a possible upward movement on the exchange rate between the USD and the IQD. Tourists and business interests alike will ultimately only be attracted to Iraq and the Iraqi currency if they can easily change whatever currency they are holding to either USD or IQD and then back again while still in-country; and also if they can access a local Iraqi ATM or bank using a card, whenever necessary, for more funds (in either currency) ~ just like you can do in other electronic banking savvy, tourist seeking countries. By now the Directors of the CBI, in conjunction with the GOI/MOF were supposed to have already brought the financial affairs of Iraq (including having a viable, tradable, international currency) into compliance with the IMF and the World Bank financial (transparency) rules that the other (approximately) 170 IMF member countries follow. The CBI started its second (supposedly final) two year probationary period, called a Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) in February 2010; and that SBA was supposed to have ended in February 2012. The CBI asked for and received 2 extensions to that particular SBA ~ the first for 5 months and the second for 7 months. The second extension ended a year ago in February 2013 ~ a year later than the (second) SBA probationary period was supposed to have ended in the first place. Now, it’s another year later, and I have no idea whether the CBI got yet another extension from the IMF and/or is still under a SBA; or if they finally passed all the compliance tests to become fully fledged members of the central banking community. An IMF declared end to any Iraqi SBA probationary period is probably only going to happen if Iraq has a respectable international currency and the CBI has some working electronic banking procedures in place to back it up. At this point, at the beginning of 2014, with Warka still down for the count and with no CBI publicly stated intention of processing even an internal RD, let alone an international RV, I’d say there has been another extension request from the CBI, and/or a brand new (3rd) chance, two year SBA offered by the IMF to Iraq with a stipulated amount loaned to Iraq through the World Bank in order to see the CBI through the probationary period ~ again. But that’s just a guess, and hopefully the new loan from the World Bank will include enough to make Warka whole again. If there is a 3rd two year SBA in place, then we may be looking at February of 2015 before the CBI is really free to RV and/or exchange currencies internationally. The UN and the IMF and the World Bank are certainly not going to allow the CBI to mix currencies with the rest of the international community until Iraq has completed a satisfactory financial probationary period and can demonstrate an ability to trade for goods and services globally and with its own currency managed through the CBI. Perhaps the first sign/step in the process of the IQD becoming internationally tradable is for Warka to become viable again so that the infrastructure needed by the CBI to actually RD/RV or Go International (at the very least inside Iraq) is first in place and is working properly. Perhaps the next sign/step in the process would be for some movement on the in-country rate against the petrodollar, along with the publicly stated CBI purpose of either de-dollarizing inside Iraq and/or presenting the international community with a new series of very secure banknotes that more closely resemble current international reserve currency denominations and at the same time satisfy and inspire the Kurds enough for them to also use the new IQD instead of their own currency or the USD. Perhaps the next sign/step in the process would be for the IMF to announce that Iraq is no longer under a Stand-By Arrangement, and that the CBI is free to conduct international banking business like all the other central banks ~ which are not on probation. Keep an eye on CBI news updates on the CBI homepage. Perhaps the next sign/step in the process would be for the international community to announce the acceptability of the CBI proposed international rate against the USD at the next G-20 Summit. Even with all those steps in place, there still might exist some extra proprietary agreements between certain countries that seemingly protect their own currencies on the face of them; but ~ for whatever reason ~ still exclude the IQD (new or old) from being traded against certain other currencies. The real reason could actually be politically or socially instead of strictly economically motivated.
  12. Even more corrections to this post (in red) ~ sorry for the bad math: If a Major RV of 10 cents to the IQD happens before the issuance of the new lower denomination, internationally tradable notes, an existing Bremmer IQD10,000 note would immediately be worth US$1000, while (later when they are finally issued) a new IQD100 note would be worth only US$10 ~ and the IQD100 note is one of the highest new denominations announced by the CBI so far. If at a Major RV of 10 cents the largest new IQD note of IQD100 is worth only US$10 would that make the new IQD currency more or less internationally tradable? Instead of cash, any Iraqi bank with ATM machines could start issuing electronic cards to ease the pressure on the demand for physical cash; but it would still come down to an Iraqi citizen trading in IQD1,000,000 cash (worth US$100,000) for a card that would only give him back $100 worth of new IQD ~ take it or leave it, Habibi. Popular revolutions have been launched for far less than that.
  13. I apologize for the bad math. Thanks very much for pointing it out. Normally, I don’t let those pesky zeros and decimal points intimidate me like that. So, it becomes an even worse scenario for an Iraqi citizen ~ which should actually have read like this: At a Major RV of 10 cents to the IQD (prior to the issuance of the new lower denomination IQD notes), if an Iraqi citizen goes to his local bank and trades his IQD1,000,000 in cash for US$100,000 in cash, would he later (willingly?) go back to that same local bank (or any other bank for that matter) to trade that same US$100,000 back in for only US$100 worth of new lower denomination IQD notes ~ since, according to some theories, the new lower denomination, internationally tradable notes are supposed to be issued with the same exchange rate as the existing Bremmers? Trading $100,000 worth of existing IQD notes in and then being told that you can only have $100 worth of new IQD notes is even a worse scenario for an Iraqi citizen and (more than ever) doesn’t seem fair, does it? Would anybody you know willingly do that? Why do some folks think an Iraqi citizen would willingly put up with it? Arabic numerals or Hindu-Arabic numerals (depending on who you listen to) are the numbers 1 thru 10 that we in the “West” use today. Why would anybody think that the folks who grew up in the very region where “Western” math comes from are ignorant of it and therefore can’t see the disparity that a Major RV of the IQD could (potentially) cause if initiated prior to the equalizing factor of the nationwide issuance of the new lower denomination IQD notes? Sorry to pop anybody’s bubble on this, but all the Iraqi citizens that I ever met (literate or not) could easily hold their own when it came to every day math ~ in their head, without a calculator.
  14. I have to agree with DV Moderator djgabrielie in that we seem to be waiting on IQD international tradability rather than the myriad of other things that have been presented by every guru on the planet as reasons not to RV ~ just yet. Of course, international tradability speaks to the need for a valid, enforceable HCL; but still, the key to selling the oil is having an internationally tradable currency with which to receive the payments for it in. Since right after WWII (almost 70 years), the Royal House of Saud in Saudi Arabia is still using USD’s (petrodollars) as their international currency while at the same time keeping the value of their own in-country currency ~ the Riyal ~ lower in value against the USD and mostly reserved for the use of the peasants stuck inside Saudi Arabia. For the last 20 years the USD has been working better than the IQD as the go to internationally traded currency inside Iraq, too. The average Iraqi citizen has also been stuck inside the borders of Iraq using currencies (both Saddam’s and Bremmer’s) that didn’t exchange across the borders. All the Iraqi Citizens I ever met (without exception) throughout and ever since 2004 all preferred to be paid in USD, rather than these large denomination (CPA) IQD notes. As far as these Iraqis were concerned they had simply traded strongman leaders (Saddam for Paul) and one relatively useless currency (outside of Iraq) for another (Saddam’s for Bremmer’s). Since the Iraqis I met seem to prefer the internationally tradable USD notes rather than the Bremmer notes and since the CBI controls the (cash) flow of both currencies inside Iraq, we can be sure that the CBI is well aware of this preference and from that, we can only assume that the CBI has allowed it to be that way for the last 10 years for a reason. In 2004 the CBI was chartered for and is therefore obligated (then and now) to promote the IQD’s value against the USD while at the same time continuing to make progress in de-dollarizing Iraq. It’s publicly stated intentions have always been just that; including the eventual issuance of new lower denomination, internationally tradable IQD notes which are supposed to have a higher exchange value (than the Bremmer’s) against the USD. If a Major RV of 10 cents to the IQD happens before the issuance of the new lower denomination, internationally tradable notes, an existing Bremmer IQD10,000 note would immediately be worth US$100, while (later when they are finally issued) a new IQD100 note would be worth only One USD ~ and the IQD100 note is one of the highest new denominations announced by the CBI so far. Why would the CBI raise the value of these Bremmer notes (from $0.10 to $1.00) against the USD unless they were already internationally tradable? A Major RV prior to the issuance of the new lower denomination IQD notes would immediately make the Bremmers even far less useful or preferable than they are now inside Iraq; and at the same time would promote a (mad and dangerous) rush for all the available USD cash inside Iraq. Would the CBI intentionally do that? At a Major RV of 10 cents to the IQD prior to the issuance of the new lower denomination IQD notes, if an Iraqi citizen goes to his local bank and trades his IQD1,000,000 in cash for US$10,000 in cash, would he later go back to that same local bank to trade that same US$10,000 back for only US$100 worth of new lower denomination IQD notes ~ since according to some theories they are supposed to be issued with the same exchange rate as the Bremmers? Would any of us willingly do that? If at a Major RV of 10 cents the largest new IQD note of IQD100 is worth only One USD would that make the new IQD currency more or less internationally tradable? Even with best intentions, it would be a logistical nightmare to move that much internationally tradable cash USD around the country and not be subject to the endless whims of road agents, insurgents, wannabe (ex army) outlaws and other such heavily armed and dangerous reprobates ~ each only looking for a little taste of the good life for once in their lives. Without publicly declared Martial Law (which was the case in 2003 when both currencies first hit the streets via deliveries by British and American MP Convoys) it wouldn’t even be physically possible to transport the stuff around the country. Raising the value of these Bremmer notes (from $0.10 to $1.00) would also make them even less desirable than they are now as an internationally traded currency; except perhaps (very briefly) as a means to acquire more internationally tradable USD cash ~ which would have to come directly from the CBI (only), since they now own the Bremmer notes. You’d have to get in line to trade them in, though, since the CBI has only a limited supply of USD cash on hand with which to meet its immediate cash auctions to local banks obligations inside Iraq. With less than US$100 Billion in cash reserves, how long do you think it would take for the CBI to run out of (available) USD cash just trying to meet its Iraqi obligations ~ especially since Warka, with the biggest footprint of branches and ATM machines, is not yet back on line? Instead of cash, any Iraqi bank with ATM machines could start issuing electronic cards to ease the pressure on the demand for physical cash; but it would still come down to an Iraqi citizen trading in IQD1,000,000 cash (worth US$10,000) for a card that would only give him back $100 worth of new IQD ~ take it or leave it, Habibi. Popular revolutions have been launched for far less than that. If, as some theories suggest; the new lower denomination, internationally tradable IQD notes (which are meant to replace the existing Bremmer notes) are issued after a Major RV; but are given the same new ($0.10 to $1.00) exchange rate as the existing Bremmer’s, then it seems that the their relative values would be terribly skewed and unbalanced compared to the CBI’s publicly stated intentions of promoting stability in the Iraqi financial districts and in the Iraqi economy, while also de-dollarizing Iraq.
  15. This is kind of a follow up to digabrielie’s question about IQD international tradability. At a Major RV of 10 cents to the IQD an existing Bremmer IQD10,000 note would immediately be worth US$100, while (later when they are finally issued) a new IQD100 note would be worth only One USD ~ and the IQD100 note is one of the highest new denominations announced by the CBI so far. At a Major RV of 10 cents to the IQD, if an Iraqi citizen goes to his local bank and trades his IQD1,000,000 in cash for US$10,000 in cash, what in the world would give that same Iraqi citizen an incentive to trade that same US$10,000 back to that same local bank for only US$100 worth of new lower denomination IQD notes? If at a Major RV of 10 cents the largest new IQD note of IQD100 is worth only One USD would that make the new IQD currency more or less internationally tradable?
  16. Maybe this coming spring it’ll all happen at once, right after the elections in March 2014 ~ new lower denomination IQD currency gets issued, a new IQD to USD exchange rate gets published and Warka re-opens for business; ready to transfer newly revalued USD’s to the destination bank of choice. Another choice could be to just keep buying and rotating IQD CD’s for that compounded interest which is not easy to find with such a minimal investment as is required to open a Warka account; while waiting for the IQD to USD rate to go to 1 to 1 (and beyond). Even if the IQD RD/RV turns out to be a neutral event with a minimal effect on the current (1166 to 1) IQD to USD exchange rate applied to the existing currency; an eventual rise from the new rate (1 to US$0.85) applied to the new currency all the way up to a long term international rate of roughly (1 to 1) with the USD would still represent an instant gain of approximately 15% for all Warka account holders. That return on investment combined with whatever interest has been gained since the account was opened (minimum 7% annually) could still represent a fairly competitive aggregate annual ROI when compared to most minimal investment financial products available to the average investor today in 2014. Most Iraqi bank stocks offered on the ISX have been performing well due to the expansions of Iraqi businesses needing loans and the interest of the multinational corporations wanting to invest with both the Iraqi banks and the Iraqi businesses by providing the funds on loan to both. Pretty soon, Iraq will be just like its big brothers with the Coalition Provisional Authority liberators; including the main contenders Great Britain and the USA ~ all fully owned subsidiaries of the multinational corporations! Ain’t freedom grand!? Actually, freedom can be grand (and kind of fun too) if the voting is done with cash instead of (or at least in addition to) voting at the polls on Election Day. For example, if a population buys only from corporations that have policies which provide long term sustainability for both the human race and the planet; it’ll be far more effective than trying to find an honest politician (among those that finally are on offer come election time) who will stand up for the planet and the human race and against international corporate policies if need be to do so. Hopefully, at the very least, competitor corporations will certainly take notice of the new business coming to their greener opposites and change their own policies to meet the requirements of the consumer ~ instead of the other way round. In the end, it really doesn’t matter what country a multinational corporation claims to be based in. Its CEO is bound to maximize profits across the globe, international borders notwithstanding; and that means exerting its influence in as many countries as possible to do so. So, when voting with cash it may pay in the long term to vote for/buy from only those corporations intent on protecting the planet and sustaining all life (including the human race) and at the same time minimize the importance of the published country of origin of that corporation receiving the funds. On the other hand, if the urge to buy patriotically has taken hold; then a consumer might at least make sure the corporation chosen to buy from actually has policies in place which are good for the planet as well as the rest of life on earth. Ideally, that might be the best choice for all ~ to buy locally from locally chartered corporations which can more easily be controlled and are dedicated to sustaining the planet and all life on it. Any other goods and services not available locally could be imported with the same sustainability standards in place ~ good for the planet and all life on it ~ or no sale! Anyway, here’s hoping the Spring of 2014 brings an end to the era of waiting on Warka as well as a new era of populations spending locally and only if it benefits the planet and the rest of its creatures! With enough populations doing the same thing world-wide, a global mind set is inevitable and that inevitability will change the face of global politics as well as bring back the proper proportion of local power to the people ~ no matter what country they live in. Even luxuries can be green.
  17. Apparently this is a letter from the CBI to Warka Date: February 6th 2014 Banking and Credit Supervision Committee / Banking Research and Studies Department To: Warka Bank for Investment and Finance Subject: Lifting Custodianship The decision has been reached to lift the custodianship in accordance with the tribunal court for financial services verdict in accordance with its letter no.5 / financial services/2013 /September 9th 2013 Acting Director General Abdulabbass Khalaf Sultan January 21st 2014 So the CBI is finally getting around to doing what they were ordered to do by the Financial Services Court 5 months ago. They were also ordered to deposit enough IQD with Warka to allow them to be solvent enough to get back to business as usual; including being in compliance with the latest CBI minimum reserve requirements ~ an arbitrary figure, set now at around IQD 250Billion. The CBI was also ordered to restore Warka’s reputation as a Financial Institution, but hopefully they’ll deposit the IQD first and let Warka get back to work before they try to fix the reputation. On the other hand, Warka’s directors could possibly want the reputation fixed first before going back to business as usual; if for no other reason than as an attempt to limit the run on withdrawals which is likely to happen as soon as transfers and withdrawals are allowed to happen again. Whatever the case, at least now we can look for an end to this capture of our funds, but I still wonder how long it’s all going to take.
  18. Mammaw, Rayzur is correct regarding Warka’s ISX status. I have a feeling that you might not even need a formal application for an annual e-banking subscription for the IQD 15,000 fee. It might be that right now Warka is allowing anyone who tries to log on a chance to change their password and at the same time establish some additional security layers ~ all for free. Of course, you might be directed to change your password again three months from now, but that just might make sense as Iraq approaches a currency transition ~ probably sometime in the spring of 2014. Maybe this is Warka’s way of making everybody pay more attention to their accounts; or, maybe Warka is simply coming up to international banking security standards as they get ready to resume business as usual. Your client ID is of course your 6 digit number (starting with an 8?) located in the middle of your whole account number and your initial online password would be the one that Warka sent you when you first signed up. Hopefully, you’ve saved that email for reference and hopefully they sent you the password whether you requested it or not. If you click on the on-line banking link on Warka’s Home page you will be directed to use your client ID and initial password to establish some security layers while you change your password. At the end of the process you should be able to view your account on line any time you want. At this point in Warka’s circumstances, any other transactions or correspondences might not be possible until the CBI does what the highest Iraqi Financial Court in the land has ordered them to do ~ pay up, big time. Within the last 6 months or so I’ve certainly had zero luck with and zero Warka response to my applications for internal transfers, external transfers and CD Purchases.
  19. You’re right, time to log on to Warka and use your e-banking ID and password to view and print (or create a pdf copy to save paper) of your latest Warka balances in IQD and USD. Then you’ll be ready to log on again sometime after the New Year starts to check the interest you’ve earned since June 30th 2013. It’s due by year’s end and the Warka staff has typically been early with distribution ~ usually just before they take their own New Year’s holiday. While you’re logged on, you might make a note of when your e-banking subscription expires. That date is in one of the lower right blue boxes on the 1st page that you come to when you first log on to your account. My latest subscription expired on 27 December 2013 and I sent my renewal application in at the last minute on the 26th. When I logged on late on the 27th, I was immediately directed to verify and change my password; plus there was a couple of security layers to verify my ID, before I was able to actually log on to that first page that we all come to. I noticed that on that first time logging on with the new password, the expiration date of my e-banking subscription was not showing, just the date of the last time I logged on. After I had checked out my accounts, I signed out and then immediately logged on again to test the new password. It worked fine and this time the new expiration date was showing. To me, all of that was Warka’s (immediate) response to my renewal request and so I’m not going to expect an email confirmation from e-banking or customer services. Pretty good service actually; however, it’s curious that my new e-banking expiration date is for March 2014 instead of a year from now. Since Warka never seems to deduct the IQD15,000 fee for the subscription from my account anyway, I guess they can make the expiration date any time they want. Maybe this is Warka’s way of making everybody pay more attention to their accounts. Or, maybe Warka is simply coming up to international banking security standards as they get ready to resume business as usual. At this point in Warka’s circumstances, any other transactions might not be possible until the CBI does what the highest Iraqi Financial Court in the land has ordered them to do ~ pay up, big time. Within the last 6 months or so I’ve certainly had zero luck with and zero Warka response to my applications for internal transfers, external transfers and CD Purchases. The CBI is supposed to publicly fix Warka’s reputation as a sound financial institution and also transfer enough IQD into Warka’s account to make them both solvent and compliant with the latest CBI requirement of a reserve of IQD 250 Billion that is not dedicated to either depositors or investors. Until that actually happens, any of that local drama doesn't mean much to us. Whatever the case, IMO the sooner you are able to log on and get a picture of your account balances the better ~ if for no other reason than to see solid evidence that you’re actually getting a minimum of 7% on IQD and 4% on USD while we wait out Warka’s return to normal. I have a feeling that you might not even need a formal application for an annual e-banking subscription for a IQD 15,000 fee. It might be that Warka is allowing anyone who tries to log on a chance to change their password and at the same time establish some additional security layers ~ all for free. Of course, you might be directed to change your password again three months from now, but that just might make sense as Iraq approaches a currency transition ~ probably sometime in the spring of 2014.
  20. What this means for us is that even though Warka doesn’t appear to be answering emails, selling CD’s, selling stocks or effecting either internal IQD or international USD wire transfers at the moment; all of these services should be back on line and operating as usual as soon as the CBI pays up and publicly says they’re heartily sorry for all their sins against that fine financial institution ~ our very own Warka Bank for Investment and Finance. I’m sure Warka realizes by now that as soon as they put out the word that all services are a go, there will be a wave of depositors pulling out their USD’s and closing their accounts. So, I expect that they will be ready for the rush with some sort of message for us all to be patient and wait our turns; that is if we happened to be inclined towards that end. Personally, I like to keep in mind that despite all that Warka has gone through it is still a legitimate overseas account, capable of earning an aggregate rate of close to 10% annually and is grandfathered in for us before the rest of the world starts to react to all the obnoxious financial rules and regulations that that Communist Kenyan’s administration plans to foist on everybody around the world, starting at the beginning of 2014. When the rest of the world’s countries start to decline any financial services to passport holding Amrikans because of the nosiness of the US Administration’s IRS lapdogs, then I’ll be glad that I will have at least one account somewhere in the world that is not in USD currency. Sure the IRS can find out all about it; if they haven’t already, but so what? One part of the onerous set of new rules that Bail-out Barry and the FED plan to strangle our financial plans with is one that requires a detailed account, with heavy restrictions in place, of every wire transfer made within the FED system. Whether it’s because of another King-like Executive Order, or an Act of Congress creating another new statute (not necessarily in line with the Constitution), we probably soon won’t be able to send or receive more than $10,000 at a time; nor more than $50,000 annually, without the IRS getting into our business as to why ~ and that’s probably the most mild scenario. Whatever the case, it appears that sooner than later and after more than 3 years of the worst communications with a financial institution that I’ve ever experienced, we all might finally be free to either stay with the investment or to get out with a little profit from the interest earned. I’m looking forward to the resumption of 10.5% annual CD’s in a currency that has the potential to be immune to the USD’s inevitable decline in value. In addition, our entire accounts have the potential of an approximate 15% upward bump in value relative to the USD when the CBI and the GOI and the Iraqi MOF finally get around to re-denominating and introducing the new smaller denomination banknotes. At the same time as that is being done, the official spokesmen for the CBI have always emphasized that the new bills will fall under a new rate of exchange which is 3 zeros closer in value to the USD. That initial rate on these new bills will probably be close to $0.85 for 1 IQD, which will make these new IQD lower denomination bills much more internationally tradable with the USD, the Euro, the BP, the Swiss Franc, etc. since the face value of the bills will be closer. With Iraq’s continued economic growth, I believe that it won’t be too long after the re-denomination event before we’ll see the IQD become on par with the USD ~ and there is our 15% bump ~ from 0.85 to 1, up to 1 to 1. Of course, all of that is good for those invested in Iraq, but the IQD being internationally tradable is another matter, since that still involves the rest of the IMF countries accepting whatever rate the CBI puts out on these new bills. The closer in value to the USD and the more pegged it becomes to the USD (at least temporarily in the short term) the more it is likely to be accepted globally in foreign currency exchanges.
  21. Warka’s website home page has two 28 August 2013 news stories: The latest story is an apology from Warka for its e-banking system to be down. The 2nd latest ~ but also dated 28 August 2013 ~ is the best news from Warka in over three years. CBI Cancel the Custodian Committee on Warka Bank for Investment and Finance Dear Warka Clients Please find attached the Central Bank of Iraq board of directors’ decision to lift and cancel the custodian committee on Warka Bank for Investment and Finance. This decision comes in accordance with the decision issued by the court appeal in favor of Warka Bank for Investment and Finance. Best Regards, Warka Bank for Investment and Finance The attachment that Warka indicates in this note happens to be handwritten in Arabic, so good luck with that. Still, we have to remember that Warka also just answered a 28 July 2013 request for an ISX buy order with an email whose first sentence included the verbiage: “Please note that Warka Bank will resume trading after holding and finalizing its general assembly procedures and capital increase”. As we can see from this earlier article regarding a buy order of stocks, Warka is no longer touting the CBI Guardianship as a reason/excuse for there not being any outgoing funds available to cover clients’ requests for stock purchases and/or wire transfers of USD. Instead, apparently, once they actually hold a general assembly and finalize general assembly procedures, they might even eventually get around to capital increases which of course is still their own problem, not the CBI’s. Warka Bank is only one holding (56% ownership) of about one hundred or so other company holdings that the 100 year old Bunnia Family Business currently owns. I trust that after publicly defeating the CBI in the Supreme Court and being publicly vindicated for their own business practices, the Warka board of directors is certainly going to figure out a way to move enough funds around to make the bank solvent again. They are not going to just close the doors and quit ~ not now. Actually, it’s a really curious situation now because Warka is no longer under guardianship and yet it is still too insolvent to operate; however, it apparently is being left alone by the highest financial authorities in the land (the CBI and the MOF) which are allowing Warka to get its own house in order enough to operate again. So far as I know, that special circumstance situation is very much unique in Iraq. No other bank, that I know of, has been allowed that much (public) leeway and still survived without a forced merger. After way too much negative publicity, Warka will want to savor the righteousness ~ if for no other reason than to help quell the tide of outgoing funds that is surely building and wanting to bust out as USD’s. Whatever the case, coming up, I’d still look for a minimum of 7 days and anywhere up to 3 weeks to a month for each Warka wire transfer of USD back to a home bank ~ starting from sending the first email request and ending with the funds deposited into the home bank account. Eventually, the process should smooth out to take less than a week to accomplish. I certainly wish Warka all the luck finding more capital increases and the sooner the better for all concerned.
  22. Everyone has different sized investments in the IQD and in Warka Bank and so whether it is before or after a significant RD/RV, everyone’s need to withdraw funds via wire transfers from Warka is unique to each individual investor. In the past, I have successfully wire transferred funds from my Warka USD account back to my stateside account 4 separate times and assisted fellow investors to do the same thing twice. Along the way I learned a few things about communicating with the Warka staff that might prove helpful to someone else who also wants to wire funds back to their home account. The following tips presuppose that you already have an active Warka E-banking Services Subscription and password and that you know how to log onto your Warka accounts via the internet and finally that you are aware of the features available once you’ve accessed your account ~ including how to transfer funds from one account to another. I’ve divided the information into the following 4 parts. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- First, for your own information here is some reverse math that you probably need to be aware of for a successful Warka Wire Transfer of USD back to your home bank account. Just to make sure you have a record of how to figure out how to move the correct amount of IQD into your USD account in order to affect an accurate transfer, here's one example of a process for future reference: $1,000 ~ net spendable amount desired to have back home (as an example) $1,000 plus $20 (your home bank fee for accepting incoming deposit) = $1,020 $1,020 divided by 0.997 (SWIFT service takes .003 of amount transferred) = $1,023 $1,023 ~ amount of transfer requested in order to net $1,000 @ home bank $1,023 plus $52 (Warka's fee for affecting the transfer) = $1,075 $1,075 ~ amount needed to move from IQD into USD account $1,075 plus $150 (minimum USD deposit required to already be in account) = $1,225 $1,225 ~ total amount needed in USD account in order to transfer $1,023 $1,075 X 1179 (Warka's exchange rate to transfer IQD into USD) = IQD 1,267,425 IQD 1,267,425 ~ IQD needed to transfer to add $1,075 to USD account -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Second, once you’ve transferred the correct amount of IQD into your USD account and are ready to apply for the transfer, it would be wise to have a clear and concise form containing the instructions to Warka Bank including all of the necessary information that Warka’s Wire Transfer Department requires to make the transfer a success. When I first opened my account at Warka, Mohammad K Issa the Director of the International Foreign Relations Department sent me an email containing 3 pages of information about Warka Bank and at that time Warka’s language for a request for a wire transfer was an Application for Outward Remittance. Consequently, I have used that as a title for all my wire transfer requests ever since. The form outline below is one that I’ve used in at least 6 successful wire transfers and will continue to use in the future. I created it in MS Word, included my own specific information; then printed it, signed and dated it, scanned it into either a pdf or a jpg file, renamed the file as: (My Six Digit Account # here) Application for Outward Remittance and then saved it to my desktop ready to attach to an email to Warka. The form outline below is kind of a generic template suggestion that anyone could create on MS Word or some other word processing software or even on a typewriter. Of course, everyone would still have to fill in their own specific information where indicated and sign the Application in order to make it valid. Application for Outward Remittance of USD To: Warka Bank for Investment and Finance nasser@warka-bank-iq.com Re: Wire Transfer of USD I, (Your Full Name here), authorize Warka Bank for Investment and Finance to withdraw $00,000.00 (XXXX Thousand Dollars exactly) from my USD Savings Account #790/000000/2/2521/000 and transfer said amount to the bank indicated below as per the following instructions: Receiving Bank Name: Receiving Bank Branch: Receiving Bank Branch Address: Receiving Bank Branch Tel: Receiving Bank Branch Code: Federal Wire (ABA) Number: Receiving Bank Account Name: Receiving Bank Account Number: Please, take all bank transfer fees from my USD Savings Account and send confirmation of this transaction to my email address: Thank you for your attention to my request. Kind Regards, _________________________________________ Date: _________________________ Type Your Signature Name Here ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Third, once you’ve transferred enough IQD into your USD account and have the Application for the transfer signed and ready to attach to an email as either a pdf or a jpg file, the final step would be to actually create the email, attach the application (along with the color copy of whichever original notarized “True Copy” ID you used to open the account) and send it to the proper email addresses at Warka. Below is an outline of email information that I’ve used successfully in the past and will continue to use in the future: Send To: nasser@warka-bank-iq.com and swift.m@warka-bank-iq.com With a CC to: ifrd@warka-bank-iq.com and c.services@warka-bank-iq.com Subject: (Six Digit Account #) Application for Outward Remittance of USD Copy and paste the following into the area of the body of a new email message: Warka Bank Wire Transfer Department Warka Bank SWIFT Department Manager Customer Services Department International Foreign Relations Department Dear Sirs: Attached to this transmission please find a pdf copy of my signed Application for an Outward Remittance of USD and also a color copy of my government issued ID ~ notarized as a “True Copy” ~ which your Compliance Department can verify. I greatly appreciate your time in facilitating an expeditious completion to my Wire Transfer Request and I look forward to your confirmation of receipt of this email transmission. At your earliest convenience, please confirm exactly which day your Wire Transfer Department and SWIFT Department will execute my Wire Transfer Request. Thank you for your kind attention to my accounts. Best Regards, (Type Your Signature Name Here) (Type Your Six Digit Account Number Here) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fourth, some other notes and tips are worth mentioning: The copy of your government issued ID that you attach to this email should be the exact one that you used to open your account and your signature on your Application for Outward Remittance should match the one on your ID exactly ~ just for the sake of consistency and for ease of identification by the Warka staff. If you just send the email with the 2 attachments to the Wire Transfer Department at nasser@warka-bank-iq.com like the Warka website suggests, then most likely it will just be ignored. I’ve never been sure why, but that’s been my experience. Sending it also to the SWIFT Department Manager at swift.m@warka-bank-iq.com and to Rowaida Mohammed of International Foreign Relations Customer Service at c.services@warka-bank-iq.com and to Mohammad K Issa, the Director in charge of International Foreign Relations at ifrd@warka-bank-iq.com lets everyone there know what you’re trying to do. Besides that, it’s been my experience that Mohammad K Issa will make sure everyone else does their job. He seems to care about Warka’s reputation. The most important thing is to have your attached (signed) Application be clear and concise with all the pertinent information required. If you send the email with just the Application, but without a copy of your ID, then it’s been my experience that the Warka staff will contact you to reapply ~ including a color copy of your government issued ID that can be verified by their “Compliance Department”. This contact will usually take a couple of days or even a week before you hear from them and that time will just delay your Application that much longer. Knowing that it’s really you making the request and that you are in possession of the same ID that opened the account and that the signature on the ID matches the one on your signed Application is a real security concern for Warka Bank ~ just as it should be. You certainly don’t want them transferring your money to just anyone who’s clever enough to hack your e-banking client ID and password and just ask for it; and by the same token, Warka doesn’t want to be fooled by and then blamed for any false requests for transfers not authorized by you. Even if you log on to your Warka account via your e-banking client ID and password, you will find that there is currently just no way to wire transfer USD from there directly back to your home bank account. In fact, to my knowledge, there never has been a way to do that since these Warka accounts are not “numbered” accounts. When you first log on, you can click on the “Maintain Beneficiaries” tag located in the menu displayed at the left side of the page. Doing that will give you a drop down menu so that you can then click on the “Add External Transfer Beneficiaries” tag. Doing so will bring you to a page whereby you can type in the necessary information regarding your home bank account, including its SWIFT code. Once you’ve submitted the information you’ll then be able to find your home bank listed under both the “List External Transfers Beneficiaries” tag and the “Follow Up Beneficiaries Requests” tag. Of course that’s fine as far as it goes, but it still won’t help you make a USD wire transfer directly from your Warka USD Savings Account to your home bank account. The Warka Bank specified method for outgoing wire transfers of USD is the Application for Outward Remittance method and that method requires a signed Application accompanied by a copy of your government issued ID that has the exact same signature on it. Also it might be advisable to consider the following: All US banks are part of the Federal Reserve System which is dominated by our own Central Bank ~ The Federal Reserve Bank. In order for any US bank to accept wire transfers from an (offshore) bank outside of the Federal Reserve System, it has to have FED permission to do so. Knowing this, Warka Bank uses Citibank NA, New York, NY (which has permission from the FED to do so) as its USA Correspondent Bank. This means that if you’re sending a wire transfer to Warka Bank from your home bank the funds first have to go to Citibank NA, NY by way of a domestic transfer which uses the Federal (ABA) routing system. Citibank NA, NY then sends the funds onward to Warka using the international SWIFT service according to your special instructions ~ which Warka provided to you for that purpose. Even though those special instructions include listing Citibank’s SWIFT code, it doesn’t mean that you are sending an international wire. You’re not. It’s only a domestic transfer with special instructions that inform Citibank what to do with the funds once it receives them from your home bank. On the other hand, if you request a wire transfer of USD from Warka to back your home bank account, Warka will first send the funds to Citibank NA using the international SWIFT service and then Citibank NA will send the funds onward to your home bank account in a domestic transfer using the Federal (ABA) routing system. That being the case, there is no need to concern yourself with any bank’s SWIFT code in your instructions to Warka for a USD transfer back to your home bank account. Knowing the correct SWIFT code to get the funds from Warka to Citibank NA is in fact Warka’s job. Your only concern is to provide the correct information (requested by Warka) to affect a successful domestic wire transfer from Citibank NA to your home bank account. That information is listed on the Application form above. Currently, wire transfers of USD to Warka have been suspended because the FED has withdrawn its permission for Citibank NA, NY to function as Warka’s correspondent bank as long as Warka is considered insolvent and under CBI guardianship. In addition, once Warka is declared solvent, and out from under CBI guardianship Citibank NA will still have to have FED approval before continuing as Warka Bank’s correspondent bank in the USA. So, even though Warka still lists Citibank NA, NY as its correspondent bank in the USA in actuality business can’t resume as usual between the two until the CBI declares Warka as solvent and the FED renews its permission to Citibank NA. Both have to happen before we will be able to wire USD from our Warka accounts back to our home bank accounts. I’m sure a similar situation exists in other countries with regard to wiring USD out of Warka and back to a home account. Other central banks such as the one which controls the German banking system seem to be OK with allowing wire transfers of USD to Warka, but that still doesn’t help with getting the funds back from Warka.
  23. Here are some more tips that I hope are also helpful: Knowing that it’s really you making the request and that you are in possession of the same ID that opened the account and that the signature on the ID matches the one on your signed Application is a real security concern for Warka Bank ~ just as it should be. You certainly don’t want them transferring your money to just anyone who’s clever enough to hack your e-banking client ID and password and just ask for it; and by the same token, Warka doesn’t want to be fooled by and then blamed for any false requests for transfers not authorized by you. Even if you log on to your Warka account via your e-banking client ID and password, you will find that there is currently just no way to wire transfer USD from there directly back to your home bank account. In fact, to my knowledge, there never has been a way to do that since these Warka accounts are not “numbered” accounts. When you first log on, you can click on the “Maintain Beneficiaries” tag located in the menu displayed at the left side of the page. Doing that will give you a drop down menu so that you can then click on the “Add External Transfer Beneficiaries” tag. Doing so will bring you to a page whereby you can type in the necessary information regarding your home bank account, including its SWIFT code. Once you’ve submitted the information you’ll then be able to find your home bank listed under both the “List External Transfers Beneficiaries” tag and the “Follow Up Beneficiaries Requests” tag. Of course that’s fine as far as it goes, but it still won’t help you make a USD wire transfer directly from your Warka USD Savings Account to your home bank account. The Warka Bank specified method for outgoing wire transfers of USD is the Application for Outward Remittance method and that method requires a signed Application accompanied by a copy of your government issued ID that has the exact same signature on it. Also it might be advisable to consider the following: All US banks are part of the Federal Reserve System which is dominated by our own Central Bank ~ The Federal Reserve Bank. In order for any US bank to accept wire transfers from an (offshore) bank outside of the Federal Reserve System, it has to have FED permission to do so. Knowing this, Warka Bank uses Citibank NA, New York, NY (which has permission from the FED to do so) as its USA Correspondent Bank. This means that if you’re sending a wire transfer to Warka Bank from your home bank the funds first have to go to Citibank NA, NY by way of a domestic transfer which uses the Federal (ABA) routing system. Citibank NA, NY then sends the funds onward to Warka using the international SWIFT service according to your special instructions ~ which Warka provided to you for that purpose. Even though those special instructions include listing Citibank’s SWIFT code, it doesn’t mean that you are sending an international wire. You’re not. It’s only a domestic transfer with special instructions that inform Citibank what to do with the funds once it receives them from your home bank. On the other hand, if you request a wire transfer of USD from Warka back to your home bank account, Warka will first send the funds to Citibank NA using the international SWIFT service and then Citibank NA will send the funds onward to your home bank account in a domestic transfer using the Federal (ABA) routing system. That being the case, there is no need to concern yourself with any bank’s SWIFT code in your instructions to Warka for a USD transfer back to your home bank account. Knowing the correct SWIFT code to get the funds from Warka to Citibank NA is in fact Warka’s job. Your only concern is to provide the correct information (requested by Warka) to affect a successful domestic wire transfer from Citibank NA to your home bank account. That information is listed on the Application form above. Currently, wire transfers of USD to Warka have been suspended because the FED has withdrawn its permission for Citibank NA, NY to function as Warka’s correspondent bank as long as Warka is considered insolvent and under CBI guardianship. In addition, once Warka is declared solvent, and out from under CBI guardianship Citibank NA will still have to have FED approval before continuing as Warka Bank’s correspondent bank in the USA. So, even though Warka still lists Citibank NA, NY as its correspondent bank in the USA, in actuality business can’t resume as usual between the two until the CBI declares Warka as solvent and the FED renews its permission to Citibank NA. Both have to happen before we will be able to wire USD from our Warka accounts back to our home bank accounts. I’m sure a similar situation exists in other countries with regard to wiring USD out of Warka and back to a home account. Other central banks such as the one which controls the German banking system seem to be OK with allowing wire transfers of USD to Warka, but that still doesn’t help with getting the funds back from Warka.
  24. I think the key to Warka's reply to brob is contained in that first sentence: “holding and finalizing its general assembly procedures and capital increase”. I believe that’s Warka speak code for: “when we’ve finally sold enough assets to become solvent again and the board of directors has decided on some new internal bank rules so that we won’t run out of cash again anytime soon; then we’ll resume servicing (outgoing cash) buy orders on the ISX”. The last time (27 March 2013) that I tried to buy an IQD Certificate of Deposit ~ a request which should have gone through immediately since the money stays in-house and Warka actually makes money from it ~ the Warka staff never even acknowledged my request or my (3) follow up emails (up until May 4th). So, this recent reply to a stock purchase request seems like a more positive sign. I just wish the staff at Warka would be more consistent with their responses to emails. Anyway, it looks like Warka is still working on increasing their capital and getting straightened out enough to be able act like a normal bank. At the very least, after over 2 years of difficulty in meeting outgoing USD wire transfer requests ~ including a solid 17 months of actual insolvency under CBI guardianship ~ it looks like Warka is still hanging in there and is not going to go under and take our deposits with it. God Almighty, but it’s getting very difficult to be patient with them!! By the way, if you think banking with Warka is scary, you might want to read this article with regard to your own US bank accounts: Could the Banksters Grab Your Bank Deposits? http://jonathanturley.org/2013/03/31/could-the-banksters-grab-your-bank-deposits/ The above article explains that most of us do not realize that when we deposit money in a bank, it becomes the property of the bank and we become unsecured creditors of the bank! Although few depositors realize it, legally the bank owns the depositor’s funds as soon as they are put in the bank. Our money becomes the bank’s, and we become unsecured creditors holding IOUs or promises to pay. Even though the current USD fiat currency is nothing more than IOU’s or promises to pay notes from the Federal Reserve Bank, at least you can still pay your mortgage with them. Of course, the same is true of the Canadian dollar, the British pound, the Australian dollar and the Euro ~ just to name a few. As everyone knows by now over 100 banks a year have failed across the USA since the Barry Bailout scheme went into effect in 2008. If your local bank failed and went into bankruptcy and you as an “unsecured creditor” got only bank stocks as compensation, could you pay for goods and services with a failed bank’s stock certificates? I doubt it. Here’s hoping that Warka Bank takes a different view of depositors and that Islamic law requiring 100% honesty in financial and banking matters has influenced the legalities enough in Iraq to put depositors like us in priority positions of payback instead of the other way round; especially if Warka should ever actually fail. As it stands now, it looks like we have a better chance of recovering our money from Warka than from our home banks ~ should either one ever actually fail. The interest earned is certainly better. Here is a link to another article similar to the one above: Think your bank deposits will always be 100% guaranteed by the FDIC? Think again.http://americablog.com/2013/04/fdic-uk-nz-deposit-confiscation.html
  25. According to a news article, it looks like the final draft of the HCL might not be passed until at least early 2014; when the current Iraqi parliamentary session ends. Whatever the case, the passing of the HCL will probably be much further away than early 2014 and it is certainly not just a “rubber stamp” away from being passed now. In order to keep perspective in this investment real, it might be advisable to not get too excited about seeing an IQD currency RD/RV anytime before early 2014. Even with the HCL passed and most of Chapter VII sanctions lifted, there’s still a substantial Iraqi debt to be paid and it’s been estimated that it won’t be paid until 2015; and so the IMF and World Bank run international community might not be ready to accept the IQD among the already internationally traded currencies until that particular debt is paid. The IQD is still a fiat currency with its exchange rate dictated by the CBI, just as the USD is fiat with its exchange rate dictated by the Fed and the GBP is fiat with its exchange rate dictated by the Bank of England. In order for these 3 currencies to be traded freely, all three central banks (at the very least) will have to agree on the mutual international exchange rates. Right now, the Iraqis themselves prefer the USD over the IQD when doing business ~ even in their own country. The USD can easily be traded for the GBP along with many other international currencies. Just a new exchange rate dictated by the CBI against the USD is not going to make the current IQD banknotes any more acceptable to the Iraqi people. In fact, even with an exchange rate as low as US$0.10 to IQD1.00, the Iraqis will still very much prefer the USD (even more) over the current IQD banknotes. At least they will still be able to make change for smaller purchase transactions. If the Iraqis themselves don’t even want the current IQD banknotes ~ whatever the international exchange rate ~ how is the CBI going to convince banks in the rest of the world to accept them for exchange? I suggest that there will first have to be an IQD RD to a different currency set with the new IQD denominations more in line with the current USD and GBP and then a simultaneous IQD RV to bring the new set of denominations up close to the value of the USD for international exchange purposes. Of course, that is what the CBI and the MOF and the GOI have been predicting will happen all along ~ they just never agree on when. Here are 3 news articles which can provide some background to this opinion. Maliki, Barzani “Close to Solving Oil Dispute”: http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2013/07/19/maliki-barzani-close-to-solving-oil-dispute/ Iraq Free of Chapter 7: The Good and Bad: http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2013/07/08/iraq-free-of-chapter-7-the-good-and-bad/ Iraq Exits Chapter VII…Partially: http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2013/06/27/iraq-exits-chapter-vii-partially/
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