فرستنده:ک.ا

Financial Times
Investors give Iran funds cold shoulder
By Simeon Kerr in Dubai

Published: September 9 2008 21:06 Last updated:
September 9 2008 21:06

The head of an Iranian equities fund is abandoning
attempts to set up operations in the Gulf, blaming the
political tensions surrounding Tehran’s nuclear programme.

The decision comes after Dubai officials blocked the
company from receiving a financial services licence and
Arab investors shunned investment opportunities.

The latest wave of Gulf petrodollars is seeking
opportunities across the Middle East, as well as in
international trophy assets, but there is reluctance to
invest in the oil-rich Gulf’s largest country, Iran,
because of historical tensions, concerns about its nuclear
programme and the hawkish stance of the US.

The First Persia Equity Fund had sought to gain a
financial services licence last year at the Dubai
International Financial Centre. But Stephen Austen,
managing director of the fund, an affiliate of the Iranian
Bank Melli’s equity investment company, said he was told
by both the DIFC authority and its regulator, the Dubai
Financial Services Authority, that Iranian companies were
not welcome. He plans to set up a permanent base in Europe
by the end of the year.

Since his efforts to set up a regulated entity in Dubai in
June 2007, Bank Melli has been placed on an European Union
list of sanctioned entities, and the US has imposed
unilateral sanctions on it and three of Iran’s other
commercial banks.

The DIFC said it followed United Nations guidance
regarding Iranian financial institutions, while the DFSA
said it had no specific policy on Iran. Bank Melli’s
international arm received a DIFC licence in November 2005
that allows it to carry out non-regulated activities.

Mr Austen, who closed his second round of fundraising at
the end of August, said he had doubled the funds invested
in the Tehran Stock Exchange to €70m ($100m, £56m), almost
entirely from European institutions. Iran’s bourse is up
30 per cent this year.

His efforts to raise capital in the oil-rich Gulf,
however, have proved fruitless. On several occasions
investors pulled out at the last minute, citing pressure
their investment could generate.

“Arab investors have been placed under intense pressure by
the Bush government to join its crusade against Iran,”
said Mr Austen. “If a less confrontational regime emerges
in America, they will certainly want to take advantage of
the Iranian privatisation ­programme.”

Mr Austen’s bid to open operations in Dubai’s competing
financial centre of Bahrain was similarly rebuffed, though
he says he got a much more positive welcome from Qatar.

Savola Group, the Saudi food giant, is building an oils
and distribution facility in Iran, while some Dubai-based
family groups, such as Aqili and Ghurair, have also
invested in its food and consumer businesses.

Nasser Hashempour of the Iranian Dubai Business Council
says direct investments into Iran are increasing, but many
observers still believe the magnitude of the money flows
crossing the Gulf is dwarfed by cash flows from Iran to
the Gulf.


Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008