Ecuador Won't Work With Sanctioned Iranian Banks - Correa
June 01 2010 - 5:18PM
Dow Jones News
President Rafael Correa said Tuesday that his government won't
deal with Iranian banks sanctioned by the United Nations, but he
does want to establish relationships with all countries.
"We will respect all United Nations resolutions. If there is an
Iranian bank sanctioned by the United Nations, we won't make
transactions with that bank," Correa said in an interview with
Radio Quito.
"Nobody can impede us from having sovereign relationships with
countries that we want," Correa added referring to Iran as a
country with a huge potential market and a great financing
capacity.
In February, the Financial Action Task Force, or FATF, a
multilateral organization, placed Ecuador on a list of countries
with shortcomings in their ability to prosecute money laundering
and fight terrorist financing.
The FATF said Ecuador had failed to deliver a high-level
political commitment to address these problems. Other countries on
the FATF list include Iran, Ethiopia, Angola and North Korea.
Correa said the FATF had included Ecuador in the list because of
its ties with Iran.
In December 2008, Ecuador's Central Bank, or BCE, and the Export
Development Bank of Iran, or EDBI, signed a protocol of cooperation
to expand bilateral cooperation.
According to the agreement, seen by Dow Jones Newswires, the
EDBI offered credit facilities to Ecuador's BCE of $40 million to
finance imports of Iranian goods and services to Ecuador under the
insurance coverage of Export Guarantee Fund of Iran, EGFI.
On Tuesday, Correa said that Ecuador didn't receive any funding
from Iran.
In May, Central Bank President Diego Borja met with officials
from the U.S Treasury Department and Federal Reserve, the
International Monetary Fund and the Export-Import Bank of the
United States to dispel concerns over Ecuador's financial
relationship with Iran.
Borja also has said that any deposits from Iran were made at the
Central Bank.
In the same radio interview, Correa said the visit of U.S.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Ecuador next week is proof of
the cordial relationship between Ecuador and United States.
Correa said that he and Clinton will discuss the FATF, regional
security, migration policies and the U.S use of military bases in
Colombia, among other topics.
Correa holds the chairmanship of the Union of South American
Nations, or UNASUR.
-By Mercedes Alvaro, Dow Jones Newswires; 5939-9728-653;
mercedes.alvaro@dowjones.com