Pilatus Bank

Last updated
Pilatus Bank
Company type Corporation
Founded2014
Defunct2018
Headquarters Ta' Xbiex, Malta
Key people
Seyed Ali Sadr Hasheminejad, founder and CEO

Pilatus was a Maltese bank located in Ta' Xbiex. [1] The bank was created in 2013 and closed in 2018. [2]

Contents

History

Pilatus Bank started its operations in January 2014. Its owner was Seyed Ali Sadr Hasheminejad, known as Ali Sadr. The bank came into the spotlight after reporter Daphne Caruana Galizia accused the bank of laundering funds from allegedly corrupt schemes on behalf of offshore companies and individuals. [3] After an 18-month investigation by a magistrate in Malta, it was determined the claims were untrue. [4]

Ali Sadr was charged with violating US sanctions against Iran in the United States in March 2018. [5] Found guilty at trial, the court decision was reversed in July 2020 with the charges being dropped. [6]

On 4 November 2018, the bank had their banking license revoked by the European Central Bank (ECB). [7] Following the release of Ali Sadr in 2020, Pilatus is taking legal action through the European Court of Justice for the return of the banking license and for damages against the ECB. [8] In September 2022, the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes has called on Malta to halt any possible legal action against Ali Sadr. Sadr is claiming Maltese Authorities that namely the MFSA and FIAU have personally prosecuted him and violated his rights. [9] [10] [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Central Bank</span> Supranational central bank in Europe

The European Central Bank (ECB) is the prime component of the Eurosystem and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) as well as one of seven institutions of the European Union. It is one of the world's most important central banks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bank of Valletta</span> Maltese bank

Bank of Valletta plc (BOV) is a Maltese bank and financial services company headquartered in Santa Venera. It is the oldest established financial services provider in Malta and one of the largest. As of 2014, the bank had 44 branches, 6 regional business centres, a head office, and a wealth management arm located around the Maltese Islands. It has representative offices in the United Kingdom, Australia, Belgium and Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bank Melli Iran</span> Iranian banking and financial services corporation

Bank Melli Iran is the first national and commercial retail bank of Iran. It was considered as the largest Iranian company in terms of annual income with a revenue of 364 657 billion Rials in 2016. It is the largest bank in the Islamic world and in the Middle East. By the end of 2016, BMI had a net asset of $76.6 billion and a network of 3.328 banking branches; so it was known as the largest Iranian bank based on the amount of assets. The brand of BMI was recognized as one of the 100 top Iranian brands in 10th National Iranian Heroes Championship in 2013. The National Bank has 3328 active branches inside, 14 active branches and 4 sub-stations abroad, and it has 180 booths. The first managing director of BMI was Kurt Lindenblatt from Germany, the first foreign branch of BMI was opened in Hamburg, Germany in 1948.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bank Mellat</span> Iranian banking and financial services corporation

Bank Mellat is a private Iranian bank. Its name means "Bank of the Nation". Bank Mellat was established in 1980, with a paid capital of Rials 33.5 billion as a merger of ten pre-revolution private banks, comprising Tehran, Dariush, Pars, Etebarat Taavoni & Tozie, Iran & Arab, Bein-al-melalie-Iran, Omran, Bimeh Iran, Tejarat Khareji Iran and Farhangian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bank Saderat Iran</span>

Bank Saderat Iran(BSI) (Persian: بانک صادرات ایران, Bank Sadârat Iran, lit. "Export Bank of Iran") is an Iranian multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Tehran, Iran. It is Iran's largest bank. It was founded in Tehran in 1952 by the prominent Mofarrah and Bolurfrushan (also spelled Bolourforoushan) families, represented in the first board by Mohammad Ali Mofarrah and Mohammad Bolurfrushan and commenced operation on 13 November 1952 with a board of three directors and 20 employees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Bank of Malta</span> Central Bank of Malta

The Central Bank of Malta is the Maltese member of the Eurosystem and has been the monetary authority for Malta from 1968 to 2007, issuing the Maltese lira. Since 2014, it has also been Malta's national competent authority within European Banking Supervision.

Bank Refah Kargaran, also known as Bank Refah, is one of Iran's major banks. Bank Refah, with its headquarters in Tehran, Iran, is a retail commercial bank owned and controlled by Social Security Organization of Iran. Bank Refah provides a range of products and services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States sanctions against Iran</span> Trade restrictions levied by the United States government

The United States has since 1979 applied various economic, trade, scientific and military sanctions against Iran. United States economic sanctions are administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), an agency of the United States Department of the Treasury. Currently, United States sanctions against Iran include an embargo on dealings with the country by the United States, and a ban on selling aircraft and repair parts to Iranian aviation companies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judiciary of Malta</span>

The judiciary of Malta interprets and applies the laws of Malta, to ensure equal justice under law, and to provide a mechanism for dispute resolution. The legal system of Malta is based partially on English law and partly on Continental law, whilst also being subject to European Union law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ABLV Bank</span> Bank in Latvia

ABLV Bank was one of the largest private banks in the Baltic States, headquartered in Riga, Latvia with representative offices abroad from 1993 to 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Banking Supervision</span> Supranational banking supervisory framework

European Banking Supervision, also known as the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM), is the policy framework for the prudential supervision of banks in the euro area. It is centered on the European Central Bank (ECB), whose supervisory arm is referred to as ECB Banking Supervision. EU member states outside of the euro area can also participate on a voluntary basis, as was the case of Bulgaria as of late 2023. European Banking Supervision was established by Regulation 1024/2013 of the Council, also known as the SSM Regulation, which also created its central decision-making body, the ECB Supervisory Board.

The banking union refers to the transfer of responsibility for banking policy from the national to the European Union (EU) level in several EU member states, initiated in 2012 as a response to the Eurozone crisis. The motivation for banking union was the fragility of numerous banks in the Eurozone, and the identification of a vicious circle between credit conditions for these banks and the sovereign credit of their respective home countries. In several countries, private debts arising from a property bubble were transferred to the respective sovereign as a result of banking system bailouts and government responses to slowing economies post-bubble. Conversely, weakness in sovereign credit resulted in deterioration of the balance sheet position of the banking sector, not least because of high domestic sovereign exposures of the banks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Single Resolution Board</span> Bank resolution agency in Brussels

The Single Resolution Board (SRB) is an EU agency that was established in Brussels in 2015 as part of the broader set of reforms known as the banking union. It acts as the bank resolution authority for a subset of banks in the euro area and as the institutional hub of the Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM). Resolution is the restructuring of a bank by a resolution authority through the use of resolution tools in order to safeguard public interests, including the continuity of the bank's critical functions and financial stability, at minimal costs to taxpayers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nemea Bank</span>

Nemea Bank was a pan-European direct bank incorporated in Malta, providing banking and investment services to individuals, businesses, institutions and high net worth individuals based in the 31 countries of the European Economic Area (EEA). The bank is currently under administration and its license was withdrawn by the ECB on the 23rd March 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daphne Caruana Galizia</span> Maltese journalist and blogger (1964–2017)

Daphne Anne Caruana Galizia was a Maltese writer, journalist, blogger and anti-corruption activist, who reported on political events in Malta and was known internationally for her investigation of the Panama Papers, and subsequent assassination by car bomb. In particular, she focused on investigative journalism, reporting on government corruption, nepotism, patronage, and allegations of money laundering, links between Malta's online gambling industry and organized crime, Malta's citizenship-by-investment scheme, and payments from the government of Azerbaijan. Caruana Galizia's national and international reputation was built on her regular reporting of misconduct by Maltese politicians and politically exposed persons.

Binance Holdings Ltd., branded Binance, is a global company that operates the largest cryptocurrency exchange in terms of daily trading volume of cryptocurrencies. Binance was founded in 2017 by Changpeng Zhao, a developer who had previously created high-frequency trading software. Binance was initially based in China, then moved to Japan shortly before the Chinese government restricted cryptocurrency companies. Binance subsequently left Japan for Malta and currently has no official company headquarters.

The Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) is a financial regulator of Malta. The MFSA was founded in 2002 when it assumed the responsibilities of the Central Bank of Malta, the Malta Stock Exchange, and the Malta Financial Services Centre. It regulates banking, investment, insurance, financial, pension companies and securities markets in Malta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 Malta political crisis</span>

A political and institutional crisis within the Republic of Malta followed the uncovering of alleged links between government officials and the 2017 assassination of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. The Prime Minister's Chief of Staff Keith Schembri and Minister for Tourism Konrad Mizzi resigned following the arrest of businessman Yorgen Fenech in connection with the murder.

Ali Sadr Hashemi Nejad also known as Ali Sadr, is an American businessman.

The Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) is the national central agency in Malta responsible for receiving, analyzing, and disseminating financial intelligence to combat money laundering and terrorism financing. It was founded on October 1, 2002. The FIAU is an independent government agency. It operates as the national financial intelligence unit (FIU) in compliance with international standards and frameworks.

References

  1. Micallef, Keith (25 March 2020). "PilatusBank was a 'money transfer operation'". Times of Malta. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  2. Tronchet, Sylvain (2018-04-18). "Des entreprises françaises sous contrôle d'oligarques azerbaïdjanais via le paravent maltais". www.franceinter.fr (in French). Retrieved 2022-04-26.
  3. Vella, Matthew (23 September 2019). "MFSA-FIAU joint investigation in Pilatus Bank completed and handed to police". Malta Today. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  4. Vella, Matthew (17 December 2019). "Egrant magisterial inquiry". Malta Today.
  5. Raymond, Nate (20 March 2018). "U.S. arrests Iranian over alleged sanctions evasion scheme". Reuters. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  6. Johnson, Carrie (12 June 2020). "Prosecutors move to drop their own case after evidence issue". NPR.
  7. "Malta's Pilatus Bank has European licence withdrawn". The Guardian. 5 November 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
  8. "Pilatus to sue European Central Bank for damages in American courts". Malta Today. 1 December 2020.
  9. "International body orders pause to all proceedings against Pilatus' Ali Sadr". Times of Malta. Retrieved 2022-11-21.
  10. "Ali Sadr Has A Case Against Malta". EconoTimes. 2022-08-07. Retrieved 2022-11-21.
  11. "Ali Sadr SLAPPs Malta police, criminal proceedings 'suspended'" . Retrieved 2022-11-21.