CITI BANK operations in Iraq !!

[dflake]

Source: Reuters - 16/05/2011

Citigroup established an office to manage its activities in Iraq from Jordan

Announced Citigroup on Monday the establishment of an office in the Jordanian capital Amman for the management of its activities in Iraq as part of a U.S. group seeking to promote its services to companies in the war-torn country.

The group said in a statement it has appointed Dennis Flannery to head the new office, which will focus on serving financial institutions and governmental bodies and multinational corporations in Iraq.

Flannery said the extension the previous fiscal at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad in the statement, "Iraq's economic indicators herald a bright future ... and see a key role for the City in the development of local capital markets in supporting the financing needs of our customers."

He said Mayank Malik, CEO of the group in Jordan that the opening of the Office of Iraq will contribute to support the financing needs of corporate clients.

City and spread in more than 160 countries and engaged in activities in the Arab world for nearly 50 years.

http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dnahrain%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3Dbh9%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=ar&u=http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNewsAr.aspx%3Fid%3D15654&usg=ALkJrhj3v7hc7HeeXp3EvR7PmCduBlN0kA

[redbaron]

Citigroup Inc. ©, the U.S. bank which earns about a $1 billion in revenue from the Middle East, hired a former U.S. diplomat to oversee its team in Iraq as the holder of the world’s fourth-biggest oil reserves rebuilds its economy.

“We are very optimistic about Iraq over the next three to five years,” Dennis Flannery, who will run the division, said in an interview from Amman, Jordan yesterday. The country will have “considerable wealth” from its oil exports and is poised to invest in the oil and gas industry, power generation and housing to boost growth, he said.

Flannery, 64, was the financial attache at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad for a year before joining Citigroup in March. He has worked at the Inter-American Development Bank, the U.S. Treasury and the World Bank, and will oversee Citigroup’s plan to provide services to banks, international and state-owned companies in Iraq, the bank said in a statement. He will be based in Amman.

Iraq, which holds the world’s biggest oil reserves after Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Iran, said exports rose to 2.2 million barrels a day in February, the highest since the U.S.- led invasion in 2003. China, Egypt, Iraq and Nigeria are among 11 economies that have the most promising growth prospects in coming decades, according to a report in February by Citigroup economists led by London-based Willem Buiter.

“Over the last year, Iraq’s security situation has improved very steadily,” Flannery said. Over a longer period, the lender may have “branches, a consumer business, a middle- market business” as well as “full-service bank in the country,” he said.

Trade Finance

Citigroup already has some operations in Iraq, where it provides letters of credit for banks, private banking services as well as payment and cash-management services to international corporate clients, Flannery said.

The lender will seek to expand its trade finance and syndicated lending services to some of the Iraq’s 44 public and private banks, he said. Citigroup is also in talks with the government to advise on finance projects in the oil, gas and power industries, as well as housing developments, he said.

The country has awarded 15 contracts for oil and gas exploration licenses since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 that ousted the government of former President Saddam Hussein. Iraq’s investment in oil facilities in Basra in the south will boost oil export capacity by 900,000 barrels per day by September 2011 and a further 1.8 million barrels a day by 2012, taking overall export capacity to 4.5 million barrels a day, Citigroup economist Farouk Soussa said in a report in April.

Jordan Base

Citigroup will operate from Jordan for the moment, although it has options to open a representative office in Iraq, Flannery said. The New York-based lender could apply for a branch license or buy a stake in an existing bank, he said.

HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA), Europe’s largest bank, purchased a 75 percent stake in Baghdad-based Dar Elsalam Investment Bank in 2005. Standard Chartered Plc (STAN) and National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) SAK, the Persian Gulf country’s biggest bank, secured licenses to operate in Iraq in 2004, becoming the first group of overseas banks to enter the country since nationalization in 1964.

Citigroup has operated in the Middle East for almost 50 years and offers corporate banking services in 11 countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Kuwait. It offers consumer banking services in the U.A.E., Egypt, Bahrain and Pakistan, and is one of four banks helping the Dubai government raise $800 million in financing backed by future toll-road receipts.

To contact the reporters on this story: Arif Sharif in Dubai at asharif2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Edward Evans at Eevans3@bloomberg.net

Here is the link

Good luck and GO RV

[mlay901]

Nice post Dflake! This has GOT to be good news! They are ramping up their activity in Iraq. Do you think they might know something that we don't yet? I hope so...

GO RV!!!

Edited May 17, 2011 by mlay901

[perkey1995]

I agree with D flake and Mlay..;..... some thing is up with the 3 sites being told to close down...... Be positive go RVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV. Let's look for a brighter day tomorrow!

[mlay901]

These guys already make tons of money in Iraq/ME. The fact that they see enough stability in the gov't and the security situation has got to bode well for us. Lets hope that the Iraqi gov't can have as much faith in Iraq as Citigroup does and get this thing moving!! GO RV!

Thanks for the post Redbaron!

Edited May 17, 2011 by mlay901

[redbaron]

And I sure would like to see some of those rumors about Citi and Warka in BIZ together. That would be great. Seamless cohesion!

[wayoutwest]

This all sounds good. Thanks for the post!

[jocko129]

News like this will keep us around.

[DragonCruiser]

weed out all the fluff, bottom line is Citi is preparing for big time operations.

I agree with the consensus, Citi would not bother investing in Iraq if there is not "Big Time" profit involved. With the current status of the Dinar low, Citi Bank hired the right folks and is setting up to reap massive profits when RV happens.

GO RV!!!

Hopefully in June!!!

[TouchDownDance]

With this and the Wells Fargo purchase, seems that the banks are lining up for something

[2fast4u2c]

Definitely another positive sign.

[Scooter]

Welcome to the VET and great first post!!!

Here's some additional information from CitiBank that further supports your post:

Good Luck and again welcome to the VET,

Scooter

Hello all, this is my first post although I have been reading the forums for a while now.

Thought some of you would like a little good news, although the link i will share is not a rumor, I am rumoring that

this is a sign that we truly are close now!!! as I have read so many say.... GO RV!!!

Citigroup Inc (C: 41.53, -0.89, -2.10%) hired former U.S. diplomat Dennis Flannery to run its Iraq operations as the lender tries to capitalise on the OPEC oil producer's efforts to rebuild its war-torn economy.

The third-largest U.S. bank, which needed $45 billion in U.S. government bailouts to survive the financial crisis, said in a statement on Monday Flannery was most recently financial attache at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

He had previously worked at World Bank and Bank of America Corp (BAC: 11.93, -0.27, -2.21%), Citi said.

"Iraq's economic fundamentals are extremely healthy and we see a major role for Citi to play in helping shape the country's capital markets, while supporting the finance needs of our clients," Flannery said in the statement.

Iraq's economy, struggling to pull out of years of sectarian carnage that followed the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, is dominated by oil, which accounts for more than 95 percent of revenue.

Citi aims to focus on Iraqi financial institutions and public sector entities, as well as international corporates and institutions active in the country, it said.

http://www.foxbusine...raq-operations/

[blonde_minx]

HSBC Bank is one of the U K's largest banks

HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA), Europe’s largest bank, purchased a 75 percent stake in Baghdad-based Dar Elsalam Investment Bank in 2005. Standard Chartered Plc (STAN) and National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) SAK, the Persian Gulf country’s biggest bank, secured licenses to operate in Iraq in 2004, becoming the first group of overseas banks to enter the country since nationalization in 1964.

Read more:

[Pegleg]

Thank you for the post TruthNTime. Great news!

[chefgene23]

That makes two of us in on that bet Citi will be one the first to do our cash in. Just for your information a mil is going for around $840.00 in Baghdad. GO RV!!!!!!

[Sage449]

From Iraqi-Business News -

http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/category/banking-finance/

Citigroup Hires Diplomat to Spearhead Iraq Expansion

Posted on 18 May 2011. Tags: Citigroup, Dar Es Salaam Bank, Dennis Flannery, HSBC, National Bank of Kuwait, Standard Chartered

Bloomberg reports that Citigroup, the U.S. bank which earns about a $1 billion in revenue from the Middle East, has hired a former U.S. diplomat to oversee its team in Iraq as the holder of the world’s fourth-biggest oil reserves rebuilds its economy.

“We are very optimistic about Iraq over the next three to five years,” Dennis Flannery, who will run the division, said in an interview from Amman, Jordan yesterday. The country will have “considerable wealth” from its oil exports and is poised to invest in the oil and gas industry, power generation and housing to boost growth, he said.

Flannery, aged 64, was the financial attache at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad for a year before joining Citigroup in March. He has worked at the Inter-American Development Bank, the U.S. Treasury and the World Bank, and will oversee Citigroup’s plan to provide services to banks, international and state-owned companies in Iraq, the bank said in a statement. He will be based in Amman.

“Over the last year, Iraq’s security situation has improved very steadily,” Flannery said. Over a longer period, the lender may have “branches, a consumer business, a middle- market business” as well as a full-service bank in the country,” he said.

Citigroup already has some operations in Iraq, where it provides letters of credit for banks, private banking services as well as payment and cash-management services to international corporate clients.

It will seek to expand its trade finance and syndicated lending services to some of Iraq’s 44 public and private banks, he said. Citigroup is also in talks with the government to advise on finance projects in the oil, gas and power industries, as well as housing developments.

Citigroup will operate from Jordan for the moment, although it has options to open a representative office in Iraq, Flannery said. The New York-based lender could apply for a branch license or buy a stake in an existing bank, he said.

HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe’s largest bank, purchased a 75 percent stake in Baghdad-based Dar Es Salaam Investment Bank in 2005. Standard Chartered Plc and National Bank of Kuwait, the Persian Gulf country’s biggest bank, secured licenses to operate in Iraq in 2004, becoming the first group of overseas banks to enter the country since nationalization in 1964.