UAE Central Bank Bars Bank Melli Iran Branches From Iran-Related Transactions
The regulator said examinations found failures in anti-money-laundering, terrorist-financing and proliferation-financing compliance.
Tariq Benali Tariq Benali covers business and corporate news across the UAE and MENA for Anecdoted, tracking the deals, leadership moves and regulatory shifts behind the region's companies. tariq@anecdoted.com
The Central Bank of the UAE has barred every branch of Bank Melli Iran in the country from handling financial transactions to and from Iran. Trade finance and fund transfers fall inside the prohibition.
The regulator said its examinations of the branches uncovered breaches of the UAE's banking rules. Failures to meet obligations under national legislation on anti-money laundering, the financing of terrorism and proliferation financing were among the violations cited. The statement did not name the transactions or the counterparties involved.
The central bank described the steps as strict enforcement measures and said it would keep tightening its supervisory framework. It framed the action as a way to protect the soundness and integrity of the UAE financial system and to make sure the institutions it oversees meet applicable local and international standards.
Timing and US pressure
The decision lands less than a month after the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned the general manager of Bank Melli's Dubai branch. That step formed part of Washington's broader economic sanctions campaign against Iran.
Several other moves in the region have recently targeted institutions tied to Iranian banking activity.
Banque Misr and the Egyptian transaction
On August 28, the US Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network proposed a rule that would stop American financial institutions from keeping correspondent accounts with Banque Misr UAE, the UAE-based branches of Egypt's state-owned Banque Misr. Treasury said its investigation traced roughly $1.8 billion in transactions involving 103 companies with possible links to Iranian shadow-banking networks, covering January 2024 through June 2026.
The central bank then opened a special and urgent examination of Banque Misr's UAE branches. That review included a forensic, in-depth look at the period US authorities flagged and at dealings involving the companies named in the Treasury notice. The regulator said it was also weighing its options regarding the bank's status in the country.
On September 22, Banque Misr and the National Bank of Egypt said the central bank had granted preliminary approval for NBE to take over Banque Misr's UAE branches. The two lenders described the arrangement as an agreement in principle to reorganise how they operate in the UAE, with the handover designed to keep business running and protect customers.
Türkiye revokes a licence
Türkiye separately withdrew the operating licence of Bank Mellat's Istanbul branch on September 18, with the decision printed in the country's Official Gazette a day later. The Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency said it acted under Article 71(b) of the banking law, which allows intervention where a bank's continued operation is judged a risk to depositors' rights or to the security and stability of the financial system.
The Turkish notice made no mention of US measures or of particular operational problems. It nevertheless arrived as Washington pressed other governments to intensify economic pressure on Tehran. Earlier in September, the US Treasury had sanctioned a Turkish investment bank along with two of its subsidiaries.
