The Ledger

Union Bank of Iraq

This page sets out what the record shows about Union Bank of Iraq. 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 اتحاد العراق

$4.2bn

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

Tier A

$516.8m

asked for but refused by the Central Bank's committee from January 2013 to February 2015

Tier A

$177.3m

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: Union Bank of Iraq
Name in Arabic: مصرف اتحاد العراق
Type: Private commercial bank
Iraq Stock Exchange ticker: BUOI
Established: 23 September 2002
Licence: No. 340/3/9 of 9 March 2004
Regulatory measures: Barred from dollar dealing by the Central Bank (January 2024)
Website: www.ub-iq.com
Securities Commission page: Iraq Securities Commissionisc.gov.iq

Ownership

The Iraq Securities Commission page names these significant individual holders: عقيل مفتن خفيف البيضاني with 13% and محمد مفتن خفيف البيضاني with 13%. The page was read on 25 September 2026.

Political or armed-group links reported by sources

OFAC: Meften brothers "own and manage an IRGC-QF-associated Iraqi commercial bank" (bank not named by OFAC); the Iraq Securities Commission shows Aqeel & Mohammed Meften 13% each of Union Bank; Arab Weekly and bank posts: Ali Meften chaired Union Bank
According to: OFAC 9 October 2025; Iraq Securities Commission; Arab WeeklyTier ATier BTier DU.S. Department of the Treasury Iraq Securities Commission The Arab Weekly

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
عبد الكريم ابراهيم علي	Chairman	Not stated	Not stated	Not charged as of the date of writing	U.S. Department of the Treasury The Arab Weekly Iraq Stock Exchange Iraq Securities Commission InfoPlusCentral Bank of Iraq[1][2]
عقيل مفتن خفيف البيضاني	Shareholder	13%	Not stated	Under sanctions	U.S. Department of the Treasury The Arab Weekly Iraq Stock Exchange Iraq Securities Commission InfoPlusCentral Bank of Iraq[1][2]
محمد مفتن خفيف البيضاني	Shareholder	13%	Not stated	Not charged as of the date of writing	U.S. Department of the Treasury The Arab Weekly Iraq Stock Exchange Iraq Securities Commission InfoPlusCentral Bank of Iraq[1][2]

Dollars bought from the Central Bank

Dollars bought from the Central Bank, by year

In billions 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
2012	$14m	$4m	$10m	5.2%	Not stated	$245,000
2013	$1.4bn	$442.3m	$958.6m	3.0%	$374.9m	$61.1m
2014	$1.1bn	$946m	$194m	3.3%	$104.8m	$21.8m
2015	$280.5m	$238.3m	$42.3m	0.9%	$33m	$13.1m
2016	$778.6m	$30.3m	$748.3m	3.0%	Not stated	$57.9m
2017	$510.8m	$72.5m	$438.3m	2.6%	Not stated	$22.5m
2018	$4m	$0	$4m	2.6%	Not stated	$128,202
2019	$64.3m	$0	$64.3m	0.6%	Not stated	$338,684
2020	$5.4m	$0	$5.4m	3.0%	Not stated	$174,992
Total	$4.2bn	$1.7bn	$2.5bn		$512.7m	$177.3m

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

From January 2013 to February 2015 the Central Bank's committee recorded, day by day, which requests for dollars it turned down and why. Its minutes record 169 occasions on which the committee refused all or part of a request by this bank. On those occasions the bank asked for $1.9 billion, and $516.8 million of it was refused.

The largest refusals

The largest refusals
Date	Asked for	Refused	The reason, as the committee wrote it	Category
14 February 2013	$18.9m	$14.9m	عدم تطابق المادة المطلوبة مع الشركة المجهزة ,المستفيدة)	Name or data do not match
23 October 2013	$14.3m	$14.3m	3333/3/9 فى 2013/10/22	Other
28 May 2013	$14m	$14m	تجزئة الفاتورة وهذا يخالف التعليمات	Other
9 January 2013	$12.9m	$12.9m	منع من دخول المزاد حسب كتاب المديرية العامة للصيرفة والانتمان 83/3/9 في 2013/1/8	Penalty on, or suspension of, the bank
29 May 2013	$27.6m	$12.7m	لتكرار الفاتورة لأكثر من طلب تحويل تسلسل	Same customer or name repeated
date unreadable	$12.2m	$12.2m	استبعاد كامل لعدم وجود قيد RTGS	Funds did not cover the request; Missing or defective documents
5 October 2013	$12m	$12m	2. استبعد من مبلغ النقد مبلغ شركة راس الخيمة بسبب ادراج تاريخ البع خطا 3. من مبلغ النقد شركة الينبوع لعدم ارفاقه كتاب اطلاق الوديعة (punctuation adjusted)	Missing or defective documents; Penalty on, or suspension of, the bank
6 June 2013	$15.6m	$10.5m	حسب طلب المصرف المرفق نسخة منه طيا المرقم 1932في 4/6/2013	At the bank's request
25 January 2015	$9.8m	$9.8m	استبعاد لوجود خطأ في تخويل قيد RTGS	Funds did not cover the request
date unreadable	$9.7m	$9.7m	عدم كفاية الرصيد الجاري في حساب المصرف	Funds did not cover the request
2 June 2013	$9.6m	$9.6m	لعدم وجود ختم المصرف	Missing or defective documents
8 June 2013	$20m	$9.5m	حسب طلب المصرف ذو الكتاب 1937 في 4/6/2013 (punctuation adjusted)	Penalty on, or suspension of, the bank; At the bank's request

Each reason is quoted in Arabic, in the committee's words. Where a reason is marked “punctuation adjusted”, only its punctuation was changed. The category is ours.

Source: Central Bank of Iraq, daily minutes of the committee that ran the dollar sale, from January 2013 to February 2015Tier A

All the refusals, day by day

Enforcement actions

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

Sources

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

U.S. Department of the Treasury9 October 2025Tier A
Treasury Takes Aim at Iran-Backed Militia Groups Threatening the Safety of Americans
OFAC is designating three Iraqi bank executives today for abusing their positions within Iraq’s commercial banking sector to benefit the IRGC-QF, Kata’ib Hizballah, and Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq. ... Iraqi bank executive Ali Mohammed Ghulam Hussein Al Anssari (Ali Ghulam) has used his position at the top of several Iraqi… Read the rest
commercial banks to enrich his family, the IRGC-QF, and Iranian-aligned militia groups. ... Ali Meften Khafeef Al Baidani (Ali Meften) and Aqeel Meften Khafeef Al Baidani (Aqeel Meften) are brothers who own and manage an IRGC-QF-associated Iraqi commercial bank. ... Muhandis General Company is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended ...
Original
The Arab Weekly16 October 2025Tier D
Washington sanctions expose Iraq’s shadow economy (opinion/analysis)
“International Development Bank is restricted by the federal, but the Central Bank didn’t name it on its website.” ... According to an Iraqi security source, the Central Bank has been pressuring IDB chairman Ziad Khalaf Abed Kareem to relinquish his majority stake in the bank. ... the Iraqi Islamic Bank for Investment… Read the rest
and Development, owned on paper by Ahmad Walid Ahmad, better known as “Ahmad Abu al-Fawz” ... The Union Bank of Iraq, chaired by Ali Muften ...
(punctuation adjusted)
Original Archived copy
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 ...
InfoPlusUndated; the text appears to have been written in 2024Tier D
شبكة شركات ممتدة من بغداد إلى فيينا وبريطانيا.. ما لا تعرفه عن عقيل مفتن وثروته الغامضة
ويمتلك عقيل مفتن (12.00%) من مصرف الاتحاد العراقي، ويشاركه شقيقة محمد مفتن بذات النسبة ويشغل منصب نائب رئيس مجلس الإدارة ... وظهرت أولى مؤشرات الفساد في مصرف الاتحاد عام 2015، حين منع المصرف من دخول مزاد العملة إثر مشكلة تتعلق بقضايا غسل أموال
Translation: Aqeel Meften owns 12.00% of Union Bank of Iraq, and his brother Mohammed Meften holds the same share and is vice-chairman ... The first signs of corruption at Union Bank appeared in 2015 when it was barred from the currency auction over money-laundering issues
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
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