The Ledger

Bank of Iraq Trade & Investment / Al-Ansari

This page sets out what the record shows about Bank of Iraq Trade & Investment / Al-Ansari. 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.

مصرف الأنصاري للاستثمار والتمويل

$518.7m

bought from the Central Bank from 2012 to 2020, in the records that survive. This is a minimum.

Tier A

$3.4m

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: Bank of Iraq Trade & Investment / Al-Ansari
Name in Arabic: مصرف الأنصاري للاستثمار والتمويل
Type: Private commercial bank
Iraq Stock Exchange ticker: BANS
Established: 9 November 2016
Licence: No. 2139/8/9 of 8 February 2017
Regulatory measures: Barred from dollar dealing by the Central Bank (November 2022)
Website: www.aiifb.iq
Securities Commission page: Iraq Securities Commissionisc.gov.iq

Ownership

The Iraq Securities Commission lists no significant holders; reported (The Wall Street Journal/The National/Shafaq) to be controlled by Ali Ghulam (designated by OFAC). Holds 25.73% of Iraqi Middle East Investment Bank (2021). Chairman Ahmed Jarallah Abdul Karim (Iraq Securities Commission).

The bank holds 25.73% of Iraqi Middle East Investment Bank (annual report for 2021).

Political or armed-group links reported by sources

Reported controlled by Ali Ghulam (designated by OFAC)
According to: The Wall Street Journal via Iran Watch; The National; ShafaqTier DIran Watch (Wisconsin Project) summarising the Wall Street Journal The National Shafaq News

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
Name	Role	Share	As of	Legal status	Source
Ali Mohammed Ghulam Hussein Al Anssari (Ali Ghulam)	Reported beneficial owner WSJ 8 September 2024 (via Iran Watch); The National 5 December 2025; Shafaq 19 November 2022	Not stated	Not stated	Under sanctions	Iraq Stock Exchange Iraq Securities Commission Iran Watch (Wisconsin Project) summarising the Wall Street Journal The NationalCentral Bank of Iraq[1][2]Shafaq News
احمد جار الله عبد الكريم	Chairman	Not stated	Not stated	Not charged as of the date of writing	Iraq Stock Exchange Iraq Securities Commission Iran Watch (Wisconsin Project) summarising the Wall Street Journal The NationalCentral Bank of Iraq[1][2]Shafaq News
Ali Ibrahim Abdul-Razzaq علي إبراهيم عبد الرزاق	Vice-chairman	Not stated	30 September 2026	Not charged as of the date of writing	isc.gov.iq
جلال سعدون ماشاء الله	Vice-chairman	Not stated	16 December 2024	Not charged as of the date of writing	mubasher.info
Omar Hikmat Abdul-Latif عمر حكمت عبد اللطيف	Managing director	Not stated	30 September 2026	Not charged as of the date of writing	isc.gov.iq
Ivan Thabit Abboudi ايفان ثابت عبودي	Board member	Not stated	30 September 2026	Not charged as of the date of writing	isc.gov.iq
Eyhab Talal Ismail ايهاب طلال اسماعيل	Board member	Not stated	30 September 2026	Not charged as of the date of writing	isc.gov.iq
Ahmad Fouad Kazem احمد فؤاد كاظم	Board member	Not stated	30 September 2026	Not charged as of the date of writing	isc.gov.iq
Jalal Saadoun Mashallah جلال سعدون ما شاء الله	Board member	Not stated	30 September 2026	Not charged as of the date of writing	isc.gov.iq
رائد محمد غلام	Shareholder	9.96%	16 December 2024	Not charged as of the date of writing	mubasher.info
علي محمد غلام	Shareholder	9.96%	16 December 2024	Not charged as of the date of writing	mubasher.info
اية محمد حسين	Shareholder	9.76%	16 December 2024	Not charged as of the date of writing	mubasher.info
زينة مهني خيري السعدي	Shareholder	9.68%	16 December 2024	Not charged as of the date of writing	mubasher.info
رغد محمد غلام	Shareholder	9.60%	16 December 2024	Not charged as of the date of writing	mubasher.info
رائدة محمد غلام	Shareholder	5.856%	16 December 2024	Not charged as of the date of writing	mubasher.info
قاسم عبد الرحمن غلام	Shareholder	5.616%	16 December 2024	Not charged as of the date of writing	mubasher.info
براق يوسف غلام	Shareholder	5.616%	16 December 2024	Not charged as of the date of writing	mubasher.info

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
Year	Dollars bought	Cash	Transfers abroad	Share of the year's named sales	Refused	Value of the price gap
2017	$7.1m	$270,000	$6.8m	0.0%	Not stated	$368,247
2018	$4m	$0	$4m	2.5%	Not stated	$126,932
2019	$501.6m	$1.6m	$500m	4.4%	Not stated	$2.7m
2020	$6m	$0	$6m	3.3%	Not stated	$195,122
Total	$518.7m	$1.8m	$516.8m		Not stated	$3.4m

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

3 November 2022Central Bank of Iraq (following US Treasury/Federal Reserve Bank of New York concerns, according to media reports)
Barred from the currency window and from dealing in dollars
Against: Al-Qabidh Islamic Bank; Asia Al-Iraq Islamic Bank; Al-Ansari Islamic Bank; Iraqi Middle East Investment Bank
The Central Bank's list gives the effective date as 3 November 2022 for all 4 banks.
Current position: Listed as of 4 February 2024
Original

Sources

The documents behind this page, with the words quoted from each.

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
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 ...
Iran Watch (Wisconsin Project) summarising the Wall Street Journal8 September 2024Tier D
Iraqi Banks Used U.S.-Created System to Funnel Funds to Iran (WSJ, David S. Cloud), summary
A subsequent investigation by the Federal Reserve revealed that more than 24 Iraqi banks, including three operated by prominent financier Ali Ghulam (Iraqi Middle East Investment Bank, Al Ansari Islamic Bank, and Al Qabidh Islamic Bank), were involved in suspicious transfers. All of the banks have been banned from conducting transactions in dollars.
Original
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
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
Shafaq News19 November 2022Tier D
"علي غلام" يؤكد براءته من "النصب والاحتيال": كانت محاولة لـ"الابتزاز"
تمكنت من إلقاء القبض على مدير مصرف الشرق الأوسط المتهم (علي محمد غلام) اثناء قدومة الى مطار بغداد والمطلوب وفق أحكام المادة 456 (النصب والاحتيال) من قانون العقوبات العراقي ... ورجل الأعمال علي غلام هو مدير لثلاثة مصارف هي (الانصاري والقابض والشرق الأوسط)، التي أوقف البنك المركزي التعامل بالدولار معها.
Translation: [Interior Ministry:] airport passport units arrested the director of Middle East Bank, the accused (Ali Mohammed Ghulam), wanted under Article 456 (fraud) of the Penal Code ... Ali Ghulam is director of three banks (Al-Ansari, Al-Qabidh and Middle East), with which the CBI stopped dollar dealings.
Original
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