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Pressed by U.S., European Banks Limit Iran Deals

(New York Times) Steven R. Weisman - Prodded by the U.S. with threats of fines and lost business, four of the biggest European banks - UBS and Credit Suisse of Switzerland, ABN Amro of the Netherlands, and HSBC based in London - have started curbing their activities in Iran, even in the absence of a Security Council resolution imposing economic sanctions on Iran. Top Treasury and State Department officials have traveled to Europe and the Middle East in the past six months, invoking antiterrorism and banking laws to limit Iran-related activities of major banks. Stuart A. Levey, the undersecretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, said: "We are seeing banks and other institutions reassessing their ties to Iran. They are asking themselves if they really want to be handling business for entities owned by a government engaged in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and support for terrorism."
2006-04-22 00:00:00
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