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IRAQ'S CORRUPTION
العربية
The Ledger

Arabia (Al-Arabiya) Islamic Bank

This page sets out what the record shows about Arabia (Al-Arabiya) Islamic Bank. It names the owners and managers, gives the dollars the bank bought from the Central Bank in the years whose records survive, lists the requests that the Central Bank refused and describes the action that regulators took against the bank.

المصرف العربي الإسلامي

$935.4m
bought from the Central Bank from 2012 to 2020, in the records that survive. This is a minimum.
Tier A
$11.6m
the value of the gap between the official and the market price on the dollars it bought, which went to whoever received the dollars
Tier B

Name, licence and status

Name in English
Arabia (Al-Arabiya) Islamic Bank
Name in Arabic
المصرف العربي الإسلامي
Type
Islamic bank
Iraq Stock Exchange ticker
BAAI
Established
20 June 2016
Licence
No. 9846/3/9 of 20 June 2016
Regulatory measures
Barred from dollar dealing by the Central Bank (January 2024); named in July 2026 among banks allowed back into non-dollar business (reported)
Securities Commission page
Iraq Securities Commissionisc.gov.iq

Ownership

The Iraq Securities Commission page names these significant individual holders: عبد المنعم مهدي صالح السلاوي with 10% and بيار جرجي بطرس يوسف with 10%. The page was read on 25 September 2026.

Owners and managers

Being listed here records an ownership stake or a post at the bank. It is not an allegation. Next to each name is the exact legal status. Where the encyclopedia holds a record of the name, the status comes from that record. Otherwise it reads “Not charged as of the date of writing”.
Owners and managers
NameRoleShareAs ofLegal statusSource
احمد عبد المجيد جمعة
Chairman
Not statedNot statedNot charged as of the date of writingIraq Stock ExchangeIraq Securities CommissionThe NationalCentral Bank of Iraq[1][2]
عبد المنعم مهدي صالح السلاوي
Shareholder
10%
Not statedNot charged as of the date of writingIraq Stock ExchangeIraq Securities CommissionThe NationalCentral Bank of Iraq[1][2]
بيار جرجي بطرس يوسف
Shareholder
10%
Not statedNot charged as of the date of writingIraq Stock ExchangeIraq Securities CommissionThe NationalCentral Bank of Iraq[1][2]

Dollars bought from the Central Bank

Dollars bought from the Central Bank, by year

In millions of dollars. Verified rows of the Central Bank's daily records.

Source: Central Bank of Iraq, daily records of the dollar sale, compiled from the verified rowsTier A
Dollars bought from the Central Bank
YearDollars boughtCashTransfers abroadShare of the year's named salesRefusedValue of the price gap
2017$164.2m$4.8m$159.4m0.8%Not stated$6.9m
2018$5.7m$270,000$5.4m3.6%Not stated$179,927
2019$759.5m$1.4m$758.1m6.7%Not stated$4.3m
2020$6m$0$6m3.3%Not stated$195,122
Total$935.4m$6.5m$928.9mNot stated$11.6m
Source: Central Bank of Iraq, daily records of the dollar sale, compiled from the verified rowsTier A
Source: the price gap is our calculation from the Central Bank's price and the market priceTier B

Share of the year's named sales: the bank's part of all the dollars that the surviving records attribute to a named bank in that year.

Refused: the requests that the Central Bank's committee turned down. Its minutes survive only from January 2013 to February 2015. An empty cell means that no minutes survive for that year. The yearly figures come from the yearly ledger. The figure at the top of the page comes from the committee's minutes. The two can differ.

What the Central Bank refused

The committee's surviving minutes, from January 2013 to February 2015, record no refusal for this bank.

Enforcement actions

  1. 29 January 2024Central Bank of Iraq
    Barred from the currency window and from dealing in dollars

    Against: Investment Bank of Iraq; Union Bank of Iraq; Kurdistan International Islamic Bank; Ashur International Bank; Al-Huda Bank; Al-Janoob Islamic Bank; Al-Arabiya Islamic Bank; Hammurabi Commercial Bank

    The Central Bank's list gives 29 January 2024 as the date for all 8 banks. Reuters reported the ban on 4 February 2024.

    Current position: Investment Bank of Iraq, Kurdistan International Islamic, Al-Janoob, Al-Arabiya named (anonymous Central Bank source) among seven banks cleared July 2026 to return to non-dollar correspondent channels

    Original
  2. 18 July 2026Central Bank of Iraq / US Treasury (understanding)
    Partial return: restricted banks allowed back into correspondent banking in currencies other than the dollar

    Against: Seven restricted banks (named by an anonymous Central Bank source): Al-Janoob Islamic; International Development Bank; Mosul Bank; Al-Mashreq Al-Arabi Islamic; Investment Bank of Iraq; Kurdistan International (Islamic) Bank; Al-Arabiya Islamic

    The Central Bank's statement confirms the understanding but does not name banks; names come from Asharq Bloomberg's anonymous Central Bank source. Access to dollars not yet restored as of the statement.

    Current position: Pending eligibility for dollars

    Original

Sources

The documents behind this page, with the words quoted from each.
  1. Iraq Stock ExchangeAccessed 25 September 2026Tier B
    ISX company profiles (companyprofile.html) for 49 listed banks: establishing date, listing date, capital, managing director
    e.g. BHAM مصرف حمورابي: تاريخ التأسيس 26/08/2020؛ تاريخ الإدراج 04/08/2024 | BTRI مصرف عبر العراق للاستثمار: تاريخ التأسيس 21/05/2006 | BLAD مصرف العطاء الاسلامي: تاريخ التأسيس 06/07/2006 | BBAY مصرف بابل: المدير المفوض احمد عباس احمد / الوصي
  2. Iraq Securities CommissionAccessed 25 September 2026 (the page does not show the dates of disclosure)Tier B
    Iraq Securities Commission (هيأة الأوراق المالية) listed-company pages: 'النسب المؤثرة' (significant shareholdings) and 'أعضاء مجلس الإدارة' (board) for banks
    مصرف الاتحاد العراقي ... النسب المؤثرة: 1 عقيل مفتن خفيف البيضاني 13% ... 3 محمد مفتن خفيف البيضاني 13% | أعضاء مجلس الإدارة: عبد الكريم ابراهيم علي رئيس مجلس الادارة ...

    Translation: Union Bank of Iraq ... Significant holdings: Aqeel Meften Khafeef al-Baidhani 13%; Mohammed Meften Khafeef al-Baidhani 13% | Board: Abdul Kareem Ibrahim Ali, chairman ...

  3. The National5 December 2025Tier D
    Iraqi tycoon to fight against US sanctions from London base
    He took control of Middle East Investment Bank in 2014 and also controls Al Ansari Bank and Al Qabidh Bank. ... Mr Ghulam's lawyers said he "denies ever knowingly engaging in any of the activities alleged by the US Treasury" ... Accounts show an individual named Abdulmunem Mahdi Saleh Al Salawi owned 51 per cent of the… Read the rest shares and Mr Ghulam held the rest. Mr Al Salawi, 58, is a director and shareholder of Al Arabiya Islamic Bank ... Their client "does not have any role at or interest in Al Arabiya Islamic Bank"
    Original
  4. Central Bank of IraqAccessed 25 September 2026Tier B
    المصارف الاهلية المحلية (Private local banks: licence numbers/dates, managers, status marks)
    الأقليم التجاري للاستثمار والتمويل ( اميرالد سابقا ) ... 408/3/9 2007/3/1 | الهدى ( ممنوع من التعامل بالدولار ) ... 136/3/9 2008/1/14 | مصرف بابل ( تصفية ) ( ممنوع من التعامل بالدولار ) ... المصفي، د.أحمد عباس أحمد | دار السلام للأستثمار ( حراسة قضائية ) | الشمال للتمويل والاستثمار ( وصاية ) | الطيف الإسلامي للإستثمار… Read the rest والتمويل ( وصاية )( ممنوع من التعامل بالدولار ) | المال الإسلامي للإستثمار ( ممنوع من التعامل بالدولار ) ... 845/3/9 في 2018/12/9
    (punctuation adjusted)

    Translation: Region Trade Bank for Investment & Finance (formerly Emerald) ... licence 408/3/9 of 1 Mar 2007 | Al-Huda (barred from USD dealing) ... licence 136/3/9 of 14 Jan 2008 | Babylon Bank (liquidation) (barred from USD) ... liquidator Dr Ahmed Abbas Ahmed | Dar Es Salaam (judicial receivership) | North Bank (guardianship) | Al-Taif Islamic (guardianship)(barred from USD) | Al-Mal Islamic (barred from USD) ... licence 845/3/9 of 9 Dec 2018

    Original
  5. Central Bank of Iraq23 October 2025Tier A
    النشرة الإحصائية السنوية / Annual Statistical Bulletin (2024 data; PDF created 23 Oct 2025), banks' establishment year, total assets, paid-up capital (pages 116 to 117) and ISX listing table (p.113)
    Region Trade Bank for Investment 2007 1,051,981 300,000 مصرف الاقليم التجاري( اميرالد) | AL-Huda Bank 2008 412,604 250,000 | Erbil Bank 2010 | International Development Bank 2011 | Hammurabi Commercial Bank 2020 | Ur Islamic Bank 2018 334,815 250,000
    Original