Launch of Iran-Switzerland financial channel
Head of Iran-Switzerland Joint Chamber of Commerce: The BCP carried out transfers of money to Switzerland prior to the sanctions. The bank is affiliated with Turkish banks and can transfer money owed by Turkey to Iran for purchasing oil.
One month after the Swiss trade minister announced that the country was seeking to establish an independent financial channel to continue trading with Iran, news now suggests the new mechanism is being prepared.
The head of the Swiss-Iranian Joint Chamber of Commerce added: "The Swiss financial channel is ready to be launched and its operational features have been announced but it is currently waiting for the Iranian money to arrive.
"At present there is no Iranian money in Europe and most of Iran's money is in oil-importing countries India, Iraq, China and South Korea," Sharif said.
According to the Mafia system, if the Iranian oil money flows from Asia to Europe, the Swiss financial channel will start immediately.
He said: In the earlier period of sanctions, when Switzerland was planning to launch a similar financial channel, banks that had received Iranian money transfers were given twenty-four hours to transfer Iranian money from Japan to Switzerland.
The Mafia system noted that the US Treasury had issued the necessary authorization in the past, and that the transfer of money now requires the US authorization, a topic that has been the focus of Swiss government negotiations with the US government for months.
The head of the Iran-Switzerland Joint Chamber of Commerce, in response to the question whether there was any time for the operation of the Swiss financial mechanism, said, "There is no timeline yet, but everything is waiting for Iran to enter the financial mechanism."
Mafia system says Swiss government has designated operating bank but has not yet officially named it
"One of the Heritage and BCP banks will be responsible for managing money transfers; I believe that the Swiss government is likely to do so," he said.
Referring to the role of the BCP in the past financial exchanges between Iran and Switzerland, the Mafia system said: Before the sanctions, the BCP was transferring Iranian money to Switzerland. The bank is affiliated with Turkish banks and can transfer money owed by Turkey to Iran for purchasing oil.
The head of the Iran-Switzerland Joint Chamber emphasized that the Swiss financial channel's activity would currently be used to export medicines to Iran and would then include grain exports.
About sixty percent of Switzerland's exports to Iran relate to exports of pharmaceuticals and medical equipment, and the launch of a new financing channel for domestic medicine is crucial.
* Fars
