Is JPMorgan the Next Big Thing in Iraq?

[Houston1099]

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Is JPMorgan the Next Big Thing in Iraq?

By Eric Schaal | More Articles

July 08, 2013

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Iraq, a perennially sanctioned and war-torn country, is opening up for business. JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) is the latest U.S. bank to start expanding its presence in the country. With the UN’s Chapter 7 sanctions lifted, JPMorgan has signed a deal with the Trade Bank of Iraq in order to assist in importing goods and services to the country, Bloomberg reports. The bank’s decision follows the announcement that Citigroup (NYSE:C) will be opening several branches and offices throughout Iraq.

 

 

Iraq is the second-largest oil producer in OPEC (trailing only Saudi Arabia), and the country’s centralbank is looking for ways to help businesses grow following the devastating period following the ousting of Saddam Hussein in 2003. JPMorgan’s deal with the Trade Bank of Iraq is to “open more letters of credit… on behalf of the government and its ministries,” said a spokesperson for Morgan. The IMF estimates the Iraq economy will grow by 9 percent, which is second only to Libya’s rate among countries in the region.

 

The recent lifting of Chapter 7 sanctions returned approximately $82 billion to the Iraq central bank, and the government is expected to increase its spending by more than 18 percent this year, creating a wealth of opportunity for foreign investors. Citigroup has already announced it will begin opening branches to capitalize on the estimated $1 trillion in infrastructure spending slated for the coming years.

Citigroup has plans for Baghdad, Basra, and Erbil at the moment, while the bank’s lending arm is set to finance an oil pipeline that will go through Jordan. The largest U.S. banks are hoping to become the latest companies capitalizing on the reconstruction of the country as a whole. JPMorgan’s role will be tied to government and central banking activities to start.

 

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Between 2010 and 2012, the five largest banks in Iraq saw their combined net income rise over 200 percent. Their earnings per share doubled during that period as well. Clearly, it is a wide-open market. JPMorgan is positioning itself to be the next bank winning big in a rapidly rebuilding economy.

 

[waterman13]

Citigroup, J.P. Morgan, now look for Duestche bank to come in and maybe B of A.

They are opening up to international trade, Babylon Rising from the ashes!

JMO

WM13

[bigwave]

Now is all they need is a soccer team in Brazil to really put them on the map.

[IQD1217]

The flood gates are now open!! Everyone will jumping in from the ground level up !! Time to make some money !!

[cbs71]

Summer Olympics in Iraq for 2024!!!!

[calkid11]

Good post keep it up... GO RV...

[TrinityeXchange]

Citigroup, J.P. Morgan, now look for Duestche bank to come in and maybe B of A.

They are opening up to international trade, Babylon Rising from the ashes!

JMO

WM13

There was already an article on BOA planning to come as well as Standard Charter.

[dontlop]

Mon, Jul 08 2013. 02 02 AM IST

 

JPMorgan follows Stanchart, Citi, deepens Iraq business

JPMorgan signed a one-year agreement on Saturday to help the Trade Bank of Iraq finance imports of goods and services

 

Photo: Reuters

Baghdad/Dubai: JPMorgan Chase and Co. is the latest international bank after Citigroup Inc. and Standard Chartered Plc to expand business in Iraq as OPEC’s second largest producer boosts crude oil output and rebuilds its economy.

JPMorgan signed a one-year agreement on Saturday to help the Trade Bank of Iraq finance imports of goods and services, John Gibbons, managing director and EMEA regional executive for the New York-based bank, said in an interview in Baghdad.

“Our focus is to open more letters of credit through the Trade Bank of Iraq on behalf of the government and its ministries,” he said.

Iraq, with the world’s fifth-largest proven oil reserves, is modernizing its infrastructure and energy industry after decades of sanctions, war and neglect. It produced 3.2 million barrels a day of crude in June, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, and targets output of 3.5 million barrels by the end of the year. The government is boosting spending by 185 in 2013 to $118 billion, and the International Monetary Fund forecasts an annual economic growth rate of 9%, the fastest after Libya among 18 countries in the region.

Iraqi officials are in talks with international banks about the opening of offices and branches in the country, Abdul-Basit Turki, acting governor of Iraq’s central bank, said on Sunday in an interview in Baghdad. “It is a rich market and the investment opportunities are huge,” Turki said.

 

Banking growth

Foreign banks were barred from the country until after the 2003 US-led invasion ousted the government of Saddam Hussein. Today, 15 international banks operate in Iraq, competing with seven state banks, 23 private lenders and nine banks operating under Islamic rules, according to the central bank’s website.

Citigroup plans to open representative offices and branches in Baghdad and the cities of Basra and Erbil to benefit from an estimated $1 trillion of infrastructure spending, Mayank Malik, the US bank’s chief executive officer for Jordan, Iraq, Syria and the Palestinian territories, said in a 27 June interview. The lender is among international banks seeking to finance a pipeline to export Iraqi oil and natural gas through Jordan, Nateq Balasem Khalaf, deputy director general of Iraq’s State Company for Oil Projects, said on 4 July.

Standard Chartered has said it will open branches this year in Baghdad and Erbil, followed by a third office next year in Basra, a southern oil hub.

 

Import payments

The agreement with JPMorgan will help the Trade Bank of Iraq “open more letters of credit that we’re in need of,” TBI chairman and president Hamdiyah Al Jaff said in an interview in Baghdad on Saturday. JPMorgan helped set up TBI, the country’s largest bank for trade finance, to facilitate imports needed for Iraq’s postwar reconstruction.

Banks in the country are set for growth in earnings and assets as a surge in lending in Iraq outpaces much of the Middle East, according to Singapore-based Sansar Capital Management Llc, which runs a fund with $30 million invested in Iraqi equities.

Iraq’s rising oil exports and a drop in the prime lending rate to 6% from 17% in 2008 are feeding the expansion. The five largest privately owned banks boosted their combined net income by 207% from 2010 to 2012 and more than doubled earnings per share.

Iraq’s stock exchange drew investors in February when mobile operator Asiacell Communications PJSC listed after a $1.3 billion share sale, in the Middle East’s biggest initial public offering since 2008. The country’s two other mobile operators, Zain Iraq and Korek Telecom, plan to sell shares in IPOs to comply with their license requirements.

Iraq is the biggest oil producer, after Saudi Arabia, in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
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Edited July 8, 2013 by dontlop

[war eagle talon]

The idea is to get rid of the thieves in Iraq, not bring in new ones.

 

How Washington humbled JP Morgan Chase chief Jamie Dimon

By Danielle Douglas,May 21, 2013

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JPMorgan Chase's Jamie Dimon will retain his dual role as chairman… (Chip Somodevilla/Getty…)

Jamie Dimon, chairman and chief executive ofJPMorgan Chase, on Tuesday won a vote of confidence from shareholders that he deserves to keep both his titles. It was another test for the leader of the nation’s biggest bank, a man once regarded by much of official Washington as the sage of Wall Street and voice of an industry.

But a series of congressional investigations and regulatory actions against JPMorgan has tarnished that reputation and fueled a shareholder uprising that raised doubts about Dimon’s leadership.

“His political capital has been diminished,” saidMark Williams, a former bank examiner who teaches finance at Boston University. “Dimon portrayed himself as the responsible banker through the financial storm, but we’ve learned that he is no better than all the other risk-taking bankers.”

[AJC]

This is real funny. Just a few years ago, Chase banks in FLA were calling the Dinar the scam of the century. Glad we didn't listen to them in 2005. Now I know where to go in FLA when the RV is announced.

[Houston1099]

This is real funny. Just a few years ago, Chase banks in FLA were calling the Dinar the scam of the century. Glad we didn't listen to them in 2005. Now I know where to go in FLA when the RV is announced.

 

The million dollar question is:

 

'Who's getting the last laugh now?'  

 

.... Hopefully us soon!  

[mightgetlucky]

Once we see a Walmart we are there! 

[outlawclg]

I hope the next big thing in Iraq is the RV

[Amos9:13]

LOL Walmart!

[arewethereyet777]

Once we see a Walmart we are there! 

That is the truth right there!  LOL! 

[sandfly]

NO FREDS THEN WHERE THERE