Western Bank Giants (JP Morgan Chase & Citibank) Prepare to Revamp Iraq’s Financial System

[sabra]

Source: WSJ

Representatives from J.P. Morgan Chase and Citibank reached a handout to their Iraqi counterparts today, saying they were ready to work with local banks to help modernize the financial system in the war-torn country.

Iraq’s banking system needs a complete overhaul, from boosting international wire transfer capabilities to setting up ATMs to establishing widespread use of credit cards. Like many sectors that languished under the Saddam Hussein regime, banks in Iraq remained relatively cut off from the modern financial world during the years of the dictatorship.

Neil Passmore, vice president of Equity Capital Markets for J.P. Morgan Cazenove in London, said he wanted to let Iraqis know that J.P. Morgan was keen to work with Iraqi companies to access international capital and investors in the Western world. He added that with the progress he has seen in Iraq, he assured the audience that within six to nine months, an Iraqi-based company will raise capital from London investors.

“I have a marketing message,” he said at an international banking conference hosted by the Finance Ministry and the Trade Bank of Iraq. “J.P. Morgan would like to be alongside that effort.” It was Mr. Passmore’s first trip to Baghdad, but he has visited the Kurdish region and Basra in southern Iraq.

Read more: http://blogs.wsj.com/iraq/2009/01/28/western-bank-giants-prepare-to-revamp-iraqs-financial-system/?mod=googlenews_wsj