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| Companies trading with Iran hidden by U.K. to avert U.S. sanctions |
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The U.K. government is determined to keep secret British companies that applied to sell goods with potential military uses to Iran, saying international banks are under U.S. pressure to drop them as clients. The disclosure of the companies may result in them losing access to bank services, Britain’s Export Control Organization said. U.S. President Barack Obama signed a law almost a year ago broadening the scope of sanctions against Iran to stunt its nuclear development program. Even before then, U.K. banks were cutting off customers with links to Iran to avoid being targeted by American authorities or losing permits to do business in the U.S., said the export agency, which issues licenses to ship so- called strategic supplies with dual military or civilian uses. The British-Iranian Chamber of Commerce, which promotes exports to Iran on behalf of about 120 companies, says the banks’ behavior “borders on a witch-hunt” that can cause financial mayhem for potential exporters to the Middle Eastern nation. The dispute stems from a 2009 Bloomberg News request that the U.K. Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, or BIS, which oversees the export agency, release the names of British businesses that applied to ship controlled goods to Iran in the first half of that year. (Source: Bloomberg)   Socialize this Subscribe to our RSS feed to stay in touch and receive all of TT updates right in your feed reader
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