Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI) is set to open a representative office in the UAE, its first outside of Iraq since its establishment in 2003.

TBI was set up by the Finance Ministry, in conjunction with a foreign consortium led by the US’ JP Morgan, as a 100 per cent state-owned entity to facilitate Iraq’s local and international trade.

TBI offers retail and corporate banking, including the provision of letters of credit (LoC), as well as treasury services.

However, TBI has faced major setbacks in its 14-year history. Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered a judicial inquiry into TBI in 2011, after a committee of officials from Iraq’s anti-corruption commission made allegations about “violations” at the bank. This resulted in the issuance of an arrest warrant for the chairman, Hussein al-Uzri.

The following year, it was the turn of  Sinan al-Shabibi, chief of the Central Bank of Iraq, to be issued an arrest warrant.