Egypt's Banque Misr reviews US dollar curbs, UAE launches urgent probe over Iran links

Cairo: Egypt's Banque Misr said on Saturday it was reviewing a U.S. Treasury notice to cut off its UAE branches from dollar transactions over their dealings with Iran, while the UAE central bank said ‌it had ⁠launched ⁠an urgent examination of the branches following the U.S. action.

The U.S. imposed Iran-related sanctions on an Egyptian bank comes as part of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's campaign to increase economic pressure to try to break a stalemate six months into Washington's ⁠war with ‌Iran.

Banque Misr said its branch ​in ​the UAE continues to provide banking services ⁠to its customers in accordance with the applicable ​rules and procedures.


The UAE central bank ​said later on Saturday it had decided to conduct a "special and urgent examination" of Banque Misr's branches in the country, including "a forensic/in-depth lookback covering the period referred to in the ‌statement issued by the U.S. authorities".

"The Central Bank expects banks licensed in the ​UAE not ​to expose the ⁠UAE's financial system to reputational risks, to respect the laws and regulations of the countries whose financial institutions are ​used in conducting transactions, and not to misuse the advanced financial infrastructure of the UAE," it added in a statement.