The Trade Bank of Iraq announced today that it has appointed Sir Claude Hankes KCVO as Adviser.

The Bank was established in November 2003 to finance international trade (imports of essential goods and services) and participate in the reconstruction process. The Bank is capitalized at USD 100 million and has an agreement with a consortium led by JP Morgan.

Hussein Al-Uzri, the Bank’s Chairman and President, said today: “Sir Claude Hankes is a distinguished strategist and financial adviser and the Trade Bank of Iraq is delighted to gain his expertise.

“The Bank is already one of the success stories of the country. We have overseen USD 21 billion in trade finance, introduced Visa cards to Iraq and implemented the first banking system in the country (Misys). We are moving into a new phase of helping to finance infrastructure projects, with the first Kurdish power plant as one of our projects and many more to follow. Another priority is a major drive to uplift the Iraqi banking sector, which will be crucial in facilitating the country’s economic and infrastructure development.”

Mr Al-Uzri added: “Our development will require international backing and finance and so we are developing an international presence both in the region and of course in London, the world’s financial centre.”

Sir Claude Hankes was Chairman of the Management Committee of Price Waterhouse and Partners during the 1980s. He has been involved in the resolution of key debt crises and masterminded the resolution of the South African debt crisis. More recently he has undertaken important advisory work in Iraq, investigating the United Nations programme and testifying on this to the US Congress.