Risky doing business with Tehran: another Italian company stumbles upon US sanctions
From the United States comes news – totally ignored by the Italian media for now – confirming how risky it is to do business with the Islamic Republic of Iran. In Atlantico Quotidiano we have dealt several times, with articles by Dorian Gray (who took a break), of the risks to which our companies are exposed, apparently in the disinterest of the institutions.
On March 26, the US Treasury Department announced that a company based in Italy, Nordgas Srl , which produces components for gas systems and boilers, agreed to pay a good $ 950,000 to "pay off its potential civil liability "In the violation of US sanctions on Iran. The violations would have occurred over a period of approximately four years, during which Nordgas would knowingly re-export 27 shipments of air pressure switches purchased from a US company and destined for up to ten customers in Iran. In doing so, Nordgas hid the US company's re-export and Iranian end customers, inducing it to indirectly export its goods to Iran.
But it is not the first case of an Italian company that incurs fines for violating US sanctions on Iran. In 2016, as also reported by various media outlets, Banca Intesa was fined 235 million dollars for "significant violations of the anti-money laundering laws of the State of New York and the Bank Secrecy Act ". Among the accusations, reported Milano Finanza , also that of “illegal activities with Iran”, for having “instructed employees to manage operations concerning Iran in order to be connected to subjects under sanctions”.
In 2017, Unicredit was investigated, again with the accusation – this time by the Trump administration – of "potential violations of US sanctioning regimes and issues relating to the operation of payments in US dollars". Specifically, as reported by Business Insider – Ucb Ag , or the German subsidiary of the banking group had received "a subpoena from Nyda in relation to past transactions involving some Iranian companies and their affiliates".
Finally, we recall some cases still open, not directly connected to the United States, but still indicative of the potential risks in doing business with Iran. The case of the cargo ship manufactured in Italy and transformed into an Iranian warship – the Shahid Rudaki – on which a still unanswered question from the deputy Antonio Zennaro (today to the League) hangs in Parliament; and the most recent case of Alpi Aviation , on which the accusations of having violated the sanctions against Tehran by selling dual use material hang. Suspicions that, according to reports Formiche.net , they had already been advanced in the past by the US State Department.
In short, doing business with Iran continues to prove very risky for all Western companies, including Italians, and even regardless of US sanctions. The country described by some as an economic El Dorado is actually dominated by a fundamentalist regime that stands out in the world for lack of transparency, corruption, violation of human rights, absence of the rule of law and financing of international terrorism. Despite two parliamentary attempts, the Islamic Republic has not yet brought its banking system into line with the demands of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in order to ensure that the money invested in Iran is not laundered to finance international terrorism.
The post Risky doing business with Tehran: another Italian company stumbles upon US sanctions appeared first on Atlantico Quotidiano .
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Atlantico Quotidiano at the URL http://www.atlanticoquotidiano.it/quotidiano/rischioso-fare-affari-con-teheran-unaltra-azienda-italiana-inciampa-nelle-sanzioni-usa/ on Fri, 02 Apr 2021 03:47:00 +0000.