Swiss bank drops Iranian clients

[Dover]

Swiss bank drops Iranian clients



Iran is accused of secretly developing nuclear weapons

UBS is cutting ties with all of its clients in Iran because the business is unattractive, according to a spokesman.

Though the move comes amid a row over Tehran's nuclear policy, Serge Steiner, a spokesman for the Swiss bank, said that the decision was solely driven by dwindling business prospects in Iran.

"We started to exit customer relationships with counterparties in Iran in autumn last year," Steiner said.

He said high costs deriving from uncertainty about security and regulatory matters made business no longer worthwhile in Iran.

UBS is the world's largest asset manager and its decision will be closely watched by rivals.
"This holds true for all our business units and for all UBS's regions around the world," he said.

Cont'd

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/6152FC5E-6ED0-4170-A2D9-DADB1841A489.htm

[rfranklin]

1. Aren't they connected to the Bush crime family?

The change in the top donor spot occurred in January, when MBNA employees donated $6,000 to the Bush campaign—enough to push the company, which calls itself the world's largest independent credit card issuer—ahead of Enron. Coming in third was Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. ($585,754). PricewaterhouseCoopers, which contributed $214,000 during the last four disclosed months, came in fourth, with a total of $576,698. Rounding out Bush's top five career patrons was UBS AG Inc. ($490,800).
http://www.publicintegrity.org/bop2004/report.aspx?aid=220

UBS’ relations with George W. Bush date back to 1987, when investment bank Stephens, Inc. (see Warren Stephens) convinced UBS to invest $25 million to keep Bush’s Harken Energy afloat. UBS has weathered many recent corporate scandals. UBS broker Chung Wu was fired hours after he advised clients to sell Enron stock in August 2001, with management quickly notifying clients that, “Mr. Wu’s statements are contrary to UBS PaineWebber’s current recommendation concerning Enron.” After Enron collapsed, UBS bought up its energy trading unit and twin skyscrapers. UBS and nine other big Wall Street firms agreed in 2002 to pay a record $1.4 billion to settle charges that their researchers promoted stocks of companies that kicked back lucrative underwriting contracts.

http://www.whitehouseforsale.org/ContributorsAndPaybacks/pioneer_profile.cfm?pioneer_ID=875

[Dover]

2. Good post...thanks for connecting the dots! n/t

[HuffleClaw]

3. is such a move even LEGAL ?

it sure sounds pretty immoral. what if they decided to discriminate on other grounds?

[hang a left]

11. Great information there

thanks for that. The BFEE at work behind the scenes.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

4. Looks like Iran is withdrawing that nation's monetary assets from....

...banks around the world to keep them from being frozen by the NeoCon Junta. Smart move by the Iranians, IMHO.

[PFunk]

5. I agree.

It looks like Iran is getting ready for the enviable attack.

[AngryAmish]

7. We all should envy Iran

[FloridaPat]

6. Why is a Swiss bank telling the world it's business? Can you imagine

any bank that throws out a customer and then makes a public statement? And since when does a bank care where the money comes from?

[ktlyon]

9. Iran has to have a place to put all the money it is moving to safety

If the Swiss won't bank it I guess that leaves China? Good investment

[loudsue]

8. All in preparation for the run-up to war.

There is eventually going to be hell to pay for what is going on around this tiny little globe of ours.

Iran started pulling money out of European banks in the past couple of weeks. The oil bourse is set to open in March. Israel is setting themselves up to make the first strike, so the U.S. doesn't have to worry about bringing the citizens on board with a new war.

This is starting to get very interesting. Can we get rid of the republicans yet?

:kick::kick::kick:

[Javaman]

10. Iran is probably investing in the Rubal and the Yen anyway..

since Russia and China are it's allies.

You know, this will be very interesting to watch this year, however, sometimes front row isn't always the safest place to be...

:popcorn: :think: