United Bank for Investment (UBI)
This page sets out what the record shows about United Bank for Investment (UBI). 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 المتحد للاستثمار
Name, licence and status
- Name in English
- United Bank for Investment (UBI)
- Name in Arabic
- المصرف المتحد للاستثمار
- Type
- Private commercial bank
- Iraq Stock Exchange ticker
- BUND
- Established
- 20 August 1994
- Licence
- No. 16108/3/10 of 5 November 1994
- Regulatory measures
- Reported barred from dollar dealing (February 2025); the Central Bank denied it and no document confirms it
- Website
- www.unitedbank-iq.net
- Securities Commission page
- Iraq Securities Commissionisc.gov.iq
Ownership
The Iraq Securities Commission page names no shareholder with about 10 per cent or more. The shareholder tables of the annual reports are not yet in the record.
Owners and managers
| Name | Role | Share | As of | Legal status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
هيثم جاسم محمد، خيري محمد بندر | Chairman | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Iraq Stock ExchangeIraq Securities CommissionOCCRPCentral Bank of Iraq[1][2] |
Haitham Jassim Mohammed هيثم جاسم محمد | Chairman | Not stated | 30 September 2026 | Not charged as of the date of writing | isc.gov.iq |
علي جاسم محمد عزيز | Chairman | Not stated | 16 June 2025 | Not charged as of the date of writing | mubasher.info |
Khairy Mohammed Bandar خيري محمد بندر | Board member Vice-chairman | Not stated | 30 September 2026 16 June 2025 | Not charged as of the date of writing | isc.gov.iqmubasher.info |
Ahmed Hashem Abdul Jabbar احمد هاشم عبد الجبار | Managing director | Not stated | 30 September 2026 | Not charged as of the date of writing | isc.gov.iq |
Yasser Sameer Khudair ياسر سمير خضير | Board member | Not stated | 30 September 2026 | Not charged as of the date of writing | isc.gov.iq |
Firas Fawzi Jassim فراس فوزي جاسم | Board member | Not stated | 30 September 2026 | Not charged as of the date of writing | isc.gov.iq |
Mohammed Shaker Abdul Ameri محمد شاكر عبد العامري | Board member | Not stated | 30 September 2026 | Not charged as of the date of writing | isc.gov.iq |
Mohammed Dhafer Mohammed محمد ظافر محمد | Board member | Not stated | 30 September 2026 | Not charged as of the date of writing | isc.gov.iq |
مريم فاضل جاسم الدباس | Shareholder | 9.8669% | 16 June 2025 | Not charged as of the date of writing | mubasher.info |
فاضل جاسم محمد الدباس | Shareholder | 9.8667% | 16 June 2025 | Not charged as of the date of writing | mubasher.info |
تبارك فاضل جاسم الدباس | Shareholder | 9.832% | 16 June 2025 | Not charged as of the date of writing | mubasher.info |
محمد فاضل جاسم الدباس | Shareholder | 9.7559% | 16 June 2025 | Not charged as of the date of writing | mubasher.info |
شمس فاضل جاسم الدباس | Shareholder | 9.6667% | 16 June 2025 | Not charged as of the date of writing | mubasher.info |
سربست بايز عباس | Shareholder | 7.578% | 16 June 2025 | Not charged as of the date of writing | mubasher.info |
لؤي حسن علوان | Shareholder | 6.666% | 16 June 2025 | Not charged as of the date of writing | mubasher.info |
الجيل الرابع للتسويق | Shareholder | 5.426% | 16 June 2025 | 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 billions of dollars. Verified rows of the Central Bank's daily records.
| Year | Dollars bought | Cash | Transfers abroad | Share of the year's named sales | Refused | Value of the price gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | $1.4bn | $231.5m | $1.2bn | 3.0% | $541.2m | $62m |
| 2014 | $1.5bn | $80.9m | $1.4bn | 4.2% | $363.7m | $31.5m |
| 2015 | $1.5bn | $80.3m | $1.4bn | 4.7% | $28.5m | $72.1m |
| 2016 | $874.2m | $34.6m | $839.6m | 3.3% | Not stated | $57.5m |
| 2017 | $529.8m | $29.5m | $500.3m | 2.7% | Not stated | $23.7m |
| 2018 | $1.7m | $0 | $1.7m | 1.1% | Not stated | $53,946 |
| 2020 | $6m | $0 | $6m | 3.3% | Not stated | $195,122 |
| Total | $5.8bn | $456.9m | $5.4bn | $933.4m | $247.1m |
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 116 occasions on which the committee refused all or part of a request by this bank. On those occasions the bank asked for $1.6 billion, and $933.4 million of it was refused.
The largest refusals
| Date | Asked for | Refused | The reason, as the committee wrote it | Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 February 2014 | $23.6m | $23.6m | لاعراض تدافيقية | Other |
| date unreadable | $22.9m | $22.9m | ف لتغطبة طلب لعدم كفاية الرصيد | Funds did not cover the request; Missing or defective documents |
| 4 February 2014 | $22.5m | $22.5m | لاغراض تدايقية | Held for audit |
| date unreadable | $21m | $21m | 21,000,000 الاغراض تدقيقية | Held for audit |
| 15 May 2014 | $20.2m | $20.2m | 20,245,000 لا غراض تدقيقية | Held for audit |
| 4 June 2014 | $19.9m | $19.9m | لاغراض تدقيقية | Held for audit |
| 2 February 2014 | $19.7m | $19.7m | Not stated | Not stated or unreadable |
| 16 November 2013 | $19.5m | $19.5m | Not stated | Not stated or unreadable |
| date unreadable | $19.5m | $19.5m | Not stated | Not stated or unreadable |
| date unreadable | $19m | $19m | لعدم كفاية الرصيد لتغطية طلب البنك | Funds did not cover the request; Missing or defective documents |
| date unreadable | $18.9m | $18.9m | 18,850,000 البنك كفاية الرصيد للمصرف لتلبية طلب | Funds did not cover the request |
| date unreadable | $18.6m | $18.6m | تل 2 لانتيا الالية اة ل القم 4198/951 في 2013/11/10 | Other |
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.
Enforcement actions
- 16 February 2025Central Bank of Iraq (reported by Reuters; the Central Bank denied)Reported ban on dollar transactions
Against: Al-Mashreq Al-Arabi Islamic Bank; United Bank for Investment; Al-Sanam (Sinam) Islamic Bank; Misk Islamic Bank; Ameen (Amin) Iraq Islamic Bank; and the payment firms Amwal, Al-Saqi Payment, Aqsa Payment
Reuters (two sources) reported the ban; the Central Bank denied that US sanctions had been imposed (The New Arab, 17 February 2025). Status of implementation not confirmed by a primary document; Al-Mashreq Al-Arabi was later named (July 2026) among restricted banks cleared to return to non-dollar channels. The Wall Street Journal (31 May 2025) later reported that the US Treasury 'blacklisted' three Iraqi card issuers suspected of militia ties, including Al Saqi Electronic Payment Company, without naming a legal instrument; OFAC's list does not name these companies as of the date of writing.
Current position: Reported and disputed. The record holds no Central Bank list that confirms it.
Original
Sources
- Iraq Stock ExchangeAccessed 25 September 2026Tier BISX 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 BIraq 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 ...
- OCCRP8 October 2024Tier DIraq’s Dollar Auction: The ‘Monster’ Funneling Billions to Fraudsters and Militants Through the U.S. Federal Reserve
OriginalThe money released by the New York Fed to Al-Huda, nearly $6.5 billion over three years, was not paid to the suppliers ... Instead, it was funneled into the accounts of three exchange companies, including nearly $5.8 billion to an exchange company co-owned by Al-Huda’s owner, Hamad al-Moussawi. ... In 2018, Moussawi… Read the rest
was elected to Iraq’s parliament ... At least a million dollars ... ended up sent to UBI’s chairman, Fadhil al-Dabbas. ... Lami and Hassan also hold just under 10 percent each in Iraqi Noor Islamic Bank, which was barred from the dollar auction in late 2019 at the Federal Reserve’s request ... UBI ... was never barred from the dollar auction. But in 2018, it was put under the guardianship of Iraq’s central bank for “failure to meet financial obligations.”(punctuation adjusted) - Central Bank of IraqAccessed 25 September 2026Tier Bالمصارف 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 Aالنشرة 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
In the press
- 22 May 2025النزاهة: إعادة 1.2 مليار دينار من المصرف المتحد للاستثمارalsumaria.tv
- 22 May 2025النزاهة: إعادة (1.2) مليار دينار من المصرف المُتَّحد للاستثمارnon14.net
- 15 April 2023تورط مصرف المتحد للاستثمار باختلاس مبالغ مالية لصندوق دعم التصديرal-aalem.com