Bank Sepah: Difference between revisions
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
imported>Borgenland |
imported>Boubloub History, pictures |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{Short description|Iranian banking and financial services corporation}} | {{Short description|Iranian banking and financial services corporation}} | ||
{{ | {{merge from|Codebreakers attack on Bank Sepah|Bank Sepah breach|discuss=Talk:Bank Sepah#Merging cyberattack articles|date=June 2025}} | ||
}} | |||
{{Infobox company | {{Infobox company | ||
| name = Bank Sepah<br />بانک سپه | | name = Bank Sepah<br />بانک سپه | ||
| Line 33: | Line 30: | ||
| dissolved = | | dissolved = | ||
}} | }} | ||
'''Bank Sepah''' ({{langx|fa|بانک سپه}}, ''Bānke Sepah'') is | '''Bank Sepah''' ({{langx|fa|بانک سپه}}, ''Bānke Sepah'', {{lit|Army Bank}}) is a major bank in [[Iran]] with historical links with the country's military community, headquartered in [[Tehran]]. It was established in 1925 as the first modern domestic Iranian bank, as opposed to the foreign-owned [[Imperial Bank of Persia]]. Owned by the Iranian government,<ref>{{cite web |website=UK Find and update company information service |access-date={{date|2025-6-28}} |url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/OE026611 |title=Bank Sepah}}</ref> it has been referred to as a financial platform for the country's [[Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics (Iran)|Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics]].<ref>{{cite web |website=U.S. Department of the Treasury |url=https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm1147 |date={{date|2020-10-8}} |title=Treasury Sanctions Eighteen Major Iranian Banks}}</ref> | ||
== History == | == History == | ||
Bank Sepah was | [[File:Rasht Sepah bank 1925-1304.jpg|thumb|Bank Sepah branch in Rasht, in the 1920s]] | ||
[[File:Bank Sepah Central Branch.jpg|thumb|Former central branch of Bank Sepah in Tehran, lately Bank Sepah Museum]] | |||
Bank Sepah was founded on {{date|1925-5-4}}, initially known as '''Bank Pahlavi Qoshun''' ({{lit|'''Pahlavi Army Bank'''}})<ref>{{cite web |website=Pars Time |url=https://www.parstimes.com/business/history-of-banking-system.html |date=Spring 2001 |title=A Review of History of Banking System in Iran}}</ref> in [[Tehran]], with a capital of 388,395 [[Iranian toman|tomans]] (3.88 million [[Iranian rial|rials]]). It was intended to handle the financial affairs of the military personnel and set up their retirement fund.<ref>{{cite web |website=Iran Chamber Society |url=https://www.iranchamber.com/history/articles/banking_history.php |access-date={{date|2025-6-28}} |title=History of Banking in Iran}}</ref> With further increase in their domain of services, the headquarters for the bank was moved to a larger building in Homayoon Street. Starting on {{date|1926-3-15}}, with opening of another branch in [[Rasht]], Bank Sepah began providing services not only to the military personnel but to the more general public such as businessmen.<ref name="dne-1">{{Cite web |title=سالروز تاسیس نخستین بانک ایرانی |url=https://donya-e-eqtesad.com/%D8%A8%D8%AE%D8%B4-%D8%A7%D9%82%D8%AA%D8%B5%D8%A7%D8%AF-36/877605-%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%B2-%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%B3%DB%8C%D8%B3-%D9%86%D8%AE%D8%B3%D8%AA%DB%8C%D9%86-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%86%DA%A9-%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200716140853/https://donya-e-eqtesad.com/%D8%A8%D8%AE%D8%B4-%D8%A7%D9%82%D8%AA%D8%B5%D8%A7%D8%AF-36/877605-%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%B2-%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%B3%DB%8C%D8%B3-%D9%86%D8%AE%D8%B3%D8%AA%DB%8C%D9%86-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%86%DA%A9-%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C |archive-date=2020-07-16 |access-date=2020-07-16 |website=donya-e-eqtesad.com}}</ref> Also in 1926, it changed its name to Bank Sepah.<ref>{{cite web |website=Iran1400 |url=https://iran1400.org/content/from-imperial-bank-to-bank-e-ghavamin-a-short-history-of-banking-in-iran/ |date={{date|2023-10-17}} |title=The founding and growth of banking in Iran}}</ref> | |||
Bank Sepah opened a branch in [[London]] in 1972, which in 2002 was reorganized as a fully-owned subsidiary named Bank Sepah International Plc (BSIP).<ref>{{cite web |website=Bank Sepah International plc |url=https://www.banksepah.co.uk/#:~:text=Bank%20Sepah%2C%20Tehran%20is%20Iran's,working%20or%20trading%20with%20Iran. |access-date={{date|2025-6-28}} |title=In the heart of the city since 1972}}</ref> It also has branches in [[Frankfurt]], [[Paris]] and [[Rome]].<ref>{{citation |title=Financial Services Forecast |publisher=Economist Intelligence Unit |date={{date|2008-8-18}}}}</ref> | |||
In the early 2020s, Sepah Bank absorbed four other Iranian banks and one credit institution: Ansar Bank, Mehr Eqtesad Bank, Hekmat Iranian Bank, [[Ghavamin Bank]] and the Kosar Credit Institution.<ref>[https://www.iranwatch.org/news-brief/iran-completes-merger-six-banks-links-military Iran Completes Merger of Six Banks with Links to Military], iranwatch.org. Accessed 20 June 2025.</ref> The Omid Bank app is product of Bank Sepah.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Omid Bank |url=https://omidboom.ir/services/omidbank/ |website=omidboom.ir}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=حیدری |first=هانا |date=2024-03-16 |title=سامانه بانکداری قرضالحسنه دیجیتال بانک سپه رونمایی شد |url=https://way2pay.ir/359107/ |access-date=2024-11-24 |website=راه پرداخت |language=fa-IR}}</ref> | |||
Sepah | Bank Sepah maintains a museum in its former central branch in downtown Tehran, built 1950-1953 on a design by [[Vartan Hovanessian]],<ref name=Spaces>{{citation |title=The Spaces of Finance in Iran and Turkey at the beginning of the 20th Century: The Cases of Melli Bank, the Sepah Bank, Turkish Central Bank, and the Ziraat Bank |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/357465921_The_Spaces_of_Finance_in_Iran_and_Turkey_at_the_beginning_of_the_20th_Century_The_Cases_of_Melli_Bank_the_Sepah_Bank_Turkish_Central_Bank_and_the_Ziraat_Bank |date=December 2021 |journal=The Journal of Iranian Studies |author=Farivash Ghanadi Maragheh & Hilal Tugba Ormecioglu}}</ref>{{rp|404}} immediately west of [[Imam Khomeini Square]] in Tehran. The museum maintains a collection of money artefacts since ancient times.<ref>{{cite web |website=IranRoute |url=https://iranroute.com/sights/52/sepah-bank-museum |access-date={{date|2025-6-28}} |title=Sepah Bank Museum}}</ref> | ||
==US, UN sanctions== | ==US, UN sanctions== | ||
{{see also|Sanctions against Iran}} | {{see also|Sanctions against Iran}} | ||
[[Sanctions against Iran|Sanctions]] were imposed on Bank Sepah by the [[United States]] on 9 January 2007, due to Iran's suspected [[Iran and weapons of mass destruction|nuclear weapons program]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=BBC NEWS - World - Middle East - US blacklists Iranian state bank |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6246665.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200227185357/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6246665.stm |archive-date=2020-02-27 |access-date=2007-01-10 |website=news.bbc.co.uk|date=9 January 2007 }}</ref> The United States claimed that the bank assisted Iran in developing missiles that could carry nuclear weapons.<ref name="mercurynews.com">http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/16420611.htm {{Dead link|date=February 2022}}</ref> and all its branches and subsidiaries in [[Italy]], [[United Kingdom|UK]], [[France]] and [[Germany]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bank Sepah - Branchs |url=http://www.banksepah.com/EN/Branchs/Default.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061021192245/http://www.banksepah.com/EN/Branchs/Default.aspx |archive-date=2006-10-21 |access-date=2007-01-10}}</ref> will have their assets frozen by the United States in order to prevent Iran from constructing nuclear weapons.<ref name="mercurynews.com" /> The official website<ref>{{Cite web |title=بانک سپه |url=http://www.banksepah.ir/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070606121642/http://www.banksepah.ir/ |archive-date=2007-06-06 |access-date=2007-05-04}}</ref> of Bank Sepah in Iran reacted by mentioning the American resolution "fabricated statements based on purely hypothetical pretext, made out of political inducements" and promised that the bank will "continue with its efficient performance with due observance of internal and international regulations as before." | [[Sanctions against Iran|Sanctions]] were imposed on Bank Sepah by the [[United States]] on 9 January 2007, due to Iran's suspected [[Iran and weapons of mass destruction|nuclear weapons program]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=BBC NEWS - World - Middle East - US blacklists Iranian state bank |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6246665.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200227185357/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6246665.stm |archive-date=2020-02-27 |access-date=2007-01-10 |website=news.bbc.co.uk|date=9 January 2007 }}</ref> The United States claimed that the bank assisted Iran in developing missiles that could carry nuclear weapons.<ref name="mercurynews.com">http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/16420611.htm {{Dead link|date=February 2022}}</ref> and all its branches and subsidiaries in [[Italy]], [[United Kingdom|UK]], [[France]] and [[Germany]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bank Sepah - Branchs |url=http://www.banksepah.com/EN/Branchs/Default.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061021192245/http://www.banksepah.com/EN/Branchs/Default.aspx |archive-date=2006-10-21 |access-date=2007-01-10}}</ref> will have their assets frozen by the United States in order to prevent Iran from constructing nuclear weapons.<ref name="mercurynews.com" /> The official website<ref>{{Cite web |title=بانک سپه |url=http://www.banksepah.ir/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070606121642/http://www.banksepah.ir/ |archive-date=2007-06-06 |access-date=2007-05-04}}</ref> of Bank Sepah in Iran reacted by mentioning the American resolution "fabricated statements based on purely hypothetical pretext, made out of political inducements" and promised that the bank will "continue with its efficient performance with due observance of internal and international regulations as before." | ||
On the same basis, further sanctions have also been imposed by the United Nations through [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1747|Resolution 1747]] of 29 March 2007 coinciding with the arrest by the Iranian Government of some British army personnel in the Persian Gulf. | On the same basis, further sanctions have also been imposed by the United Nations through [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1747|Resolution 1747]] of 29 March 2007 coinciding with the arrest by the Iranian Government of some British army personnel in the Persian Gulf. In early 2016, following the talks of [[P5+1]] with Iran on the [[Nuclear program of Iran]], and the resultant [[Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action]], sanctions against Bank Sepah were lifted.{{cn|date=June 2025}} | ||
In early 2016, following the talks of [[P5+1]] with Iran on the [[Nuclear program of Iran]], and the resultant [[Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action]], sanctions against Bank Sepah were lifted. | |||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
Latest revision as of 18:18, 28 June 2025
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "Unsubst". Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherTemplate:Main otherScript error: No such module "Check for clobbered parameters".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Bank Sepah (Template:Langx, Bānke Sepah, Template:Lit) is a major bank in Iran with historical links with the country's military community, headquartered in Tehran. It was established in 1925 as the first modern domestic Iranian bank, as opposed to the foreign-owned Imperial Bank of Persia. Owned by the Iranian government,[1] it has been referred to as a financial platform for the country's Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics.[2]
History
Bank Sepah was founded on 4 May 1925, initially known as Bank Pahlavi Qoshun (Template:Lit)[3] in Tehran, with a capital of 388,395 tomans (3.88 million rials). It was intended to handle the financial affairs of the military personnel and set up their retirement fund.[4] With further increase in their domain of services, the headquarters for the bank was moved to a larger building in Homayoon Street. Starting on 15 March 1926, with opening of another branch in Rasht, Bank Sepah began providing services not only to the military personnel but to the more general public such as businessmen.[5] Also in 1926, it changed its name to Bank Sepah.[6]
Bank Sepah opened a branch in London in 1972, which in 2002 was reorganized as a fully-owned subsidiary named Bank Sepah International Plc (BSIP).[7] It also has branches in Frankfurt, Paris and Rome.[8]
In the early 2020s, Sepah Bank absorbed four other Iranian banks and one credit institution: Ansar Bank, Mehr Eqtesad Bank, Hekmat Iranian Bank, Ghavamin Bank and the Kosar Credit Institution.[9] The Omid Bank app is product of Bank Sepah.[10][11]
Bank Sepah maintains a museum in its former central branch in downtown Tehran, built 1950-1953 on a design by Vartan Hovanessian,[12]Template:Rp immediately west of Imam Khomeini Square in Tehran. The museum maintains a collection of money artefacts since ancient times.[13]
US, UN sanctions
Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". Sanctions were imposed on Bank Sepah by the United States on 9 January 2007, due to Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program.[14] The United States claimed that the bank assisted Iran in developing missiles that could carry nuclear weapons.[15] and all its branches and subsidiaries in Italy, UK, France and Germany[16] will have their assets frozen by the United States in order to prevent Iran from constructing nuclear weapons.[15] The official website[17] of Bank Sepah in Iran reacted by mentioning the American resolution "fabricated statements based on purely hypothetical pretext, made out of political inducements" and promised that the bank will "continue with its efficient performance with due observance of internal and international regulations as before."
On the same basis, further sanctions have also been imposed by the United Nations through Resolution 1747 of 29 March 2007 coinciding with the arrest by the Iranian Government of some British army personnel in the Persian Gulf. In early 2016, following the talks of P5+1 with Iran on the Nuclear program of Iran, and the resultant Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, sanctions against Bank Sepah were lifted.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
See also
References
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Iran Completes Merger of Six Banks with Links to Military, iranwatch.org. Accessed 20 June 2025.
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/16420611.htm Template:Dead link
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
External links
Template:Commons category-inline Template:Banks of Iran Template:Authority control