Paris (AFP) Feb. 2nd, 2016 – European banks are still reeling from punitive US fines over links to Iran, are waiting on the sidelines until they feel it is safe to do business with Tehran.
“Sanctions have been lifted but really things are still not very clear,” a source at a major French bank told AFP on condition of anonymity.
US and French interpretations on the current state of play are “not aligned”, the source said. “We shall not be taking any new initiative in this domain.”
Analysts say that when it comes to what oils the wheels, high finance, there is hesitation, at least on the part of European banks.
– ’Uncertainty’ persists –
“There is uncertainty,” says Yves-Thibaut de Silguy, vice-chairman of Medef International, which offers private sector liaison for the likes of the World Bank and other development banks and international organizations.
Punitive US fines over links to Iran during sanctions are on every banker’s mind
De Silguy told France Info radio last week that while Washington had lifted nuclear sanctions other US measures — notably to stem terror funding — remain in place.
French minister of state for foreign trade, Matthias Fekl, said Thursday he had requested “clarification” from Washington on sanctions lifting parameters and timetabling.
It will fall to the US Treasury Department offshoot the Office of Foreign Assets Control, which oversees sanctions enforcement, to provide that information.
Thierry Coville, of the French Research Centre for International and Strategic Studies (Iris), believes Washington is happy to let uncertainty persist.
“It could be a US policy to say, ’careful, it’s complicated’, so people don’t understand what’s going on and think they (the sanctions) remain in place,” says Coville.
“Legally, the banks can do things” but still require “all the assurances in the world before they can return to Iran,” Coville said.
He added that “what BNP Paribas did was not actually illegal” but Washington “still has the means to put pressure on the banks”.
Even if some are ready to position themselves for a return to the Iranian market the banks are keeping quiet on their intentions.