Four years after the Iranian banks were disconnected from the global transaction network, SWIFT has reconnected several Iranian banks to its system and others have applied to reconnect. According to SWIFT’s Iranian country manager, Mr. Onur Ozan, “SWIFT has completed the on-boarding process for these banks and can confirm that they have now been reconnected to SWIFT. […] We will continue to work with the remainder of the entities that have applied to rejoin SWIFT to ensure their smooth reconnection”.
Reconnection allows the banks to resume cross-border transactions with foreign banks. The reconnection follows after Implementation Day.
This is a very important first step that is required to enable cross-border payments between Iranian and foreign banks. However, still many more steps need to be taken before the financial traffic between Iran and the rest of the world is entirely restored. In particular US sanctions still prohibit US banks to execute transactions with Iran and most other foreign banks still refrain from doing business with the country, at least for the moment. Therefore, payment transactions are currently an important hurdle to take when considering doing business with Iran. When considering doing business, it is advised to inform your bank at an early stage, or consider other payment solutions, in order to prevent misunderstandings or even disappointment.
B&A Law advises numerous companies with regard to doing business in Iran. Please feel free to contact B&A Law should you consider entering the Iranian market.