No Iraqi banks were sanctioned: US Ambassador to Iraq

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – United States Ambassador to Iraq Alina L. Romanowski on Saturday announced in a tweet that “no Iraqi banks were sanctioned.”

“Yesterday I joined a call with [the] Treasury and Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) regarding the recent U.S. action to restrict 14 Iraqi banks from USD services following concerns about money laundering,” Romanowski said in the tweet.

“After the announcement, CBI took appropriate & swift action. No Iraqi banks were sanctioned. We will continue our work to improve compliance with AML/CFT regulations and digitize the Iraqi economy with our partners at CBI,” the envoy added.

Yesterday I joined a call with Treasury and Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) regarding the recent U.S. action to restrict 14 Iraqi banks from USD services following concerns about money laundering. After the announcement, CBI took appropriate & swift action. No Iraqi banks were…

— Ambassador Alina L. Romanowski (@USAmbIraq) July 29, 2023

On July 19, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) announced that the US Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York listed 14 Iraqi private banks among the banks banned from dealing with US dollars due to suspicions of money laundering and the funneling of US dollars to Iran.

After the WSJ report was published, dozens of infuriated Iraqis protested in front of the Central Bank of Iraq in Baghdad. 

Moreover, on July 27, the US State Department confirmed to Kurdistan 24 that it had not sanctioned any Iraqi banks, but that since July 19, the US Treasury Department has banned 14 Iraqi banks from foreign currency trading.

On July 26, Iraqi banks called for official action to stem a sharp increase in the dollar exchange rate.

Read More: Bank owners and citizens protest deterioration of the Iraqi dinar following US ban on Iraqi banks