The terms of "Aden Bank" and its "fragility" keep banks and companies under "terror" of the Houthi militia
English - Wednesday 18 November 2020 الساعة 10:02 am
Aden, NewsYemen, Exclusive:
“All financial centers in Sana’a are ready to move to Aden, but it is the legitimacy and its bank that is failing it,” said a financial observer to “NewsYemen”, commenting on the conflicts between the Houthi security services and banks and exchange companies in Sana'a.
The Houthi militia interferes in the business of banks and exchange companies, and does not weigh any administrative and legal considerations in the financial and business market, and it can confiscate the property of this and arrest this and create new taxes and royalties, and even enter financial accounts and prevent this process or carry out that regardless of the legal conditions.
The source confirmed to "NewsYemen" that "exchange companies and major banks are ready from an early age to move to Aden," but "they kept watching the performance of the Central Bank of Aden, which disappointed them."
The Central Bank of Aden has placed complex and harsh requirements on banks that want to transfer their main management to the temporary capital of Aden, in addition to the notorious reputation it has acquired during the past four years.
Financial experts confirm to "NewsYemen" that the weakness, corruption and mismanagement of the Central Bank of Yemen in Aden enabled the Houthi militia to bully and loot banks in the capital, Sanaa, and blackmail their owners.
The Central Bank of Aden is still freezing the balances of local banks, which further complicated the matter for the banks to choose between remaining under the tyranny of Iran in Yemen, or transporting and aligning with the centers of Aden, which was unable to restore its business.
Financial experts believe that the instability of the Central Bank's leadership in Aden also contributed to the widening of the lost confidence gap between local banks and the Central Bank.
The preconditions of the Aden Central Bank on banks also enabled the Houthi militia to continue to control the banking sector.
The Central Bank of Aden required local banks in late 2018 to fully transfer the balances and pay taxes and any obligations to the Central Bank headquarters in Aden, in return for being guaranteed by the handling of bank balances in the Sana'a centers.
Economists confirm that reality indicators clearly revealed that the banking sector "preferred to endure the brutality of the tyrannical militia, to take the temporary capital, Aden, as its main headquarters."
Al-Tadamun Bank has a general administration in the capital, Aden, with full powers, which it established 27 months after the Central Bank transferred its operations to Aden on September 18, 2016, but it is still operating from its headquarters in Sana'a.
Al-Tadamun Islamic Bank is one of the largest Yemeni banks, and the largest family companies in Yemen: the Hayel Saeed Anam Group, the Thabet Brothers Group, Abduljalil Radman, and the Fahim Commercial Group, possess the largest percentage of its shares.
Al-Kuraimi Islamic Bank for Microfinance, too, established a general administration for it in Aden in early 2019, after it completed the same step in Taiz Governorate, to escape with its money and the money of depositors from the oppression of the Houthi militia, but it was not implemented.
The Houthi militia stormed the headquarters of Al-Kuraimi and Al-Tadamun Bank in Sana'a and kidnapped a number of their employees more than once, most recently, last Wednesday, they stormed Al-Tadamun Islamic Bank, and two months ago they stormed Al-Kuraimi Bank and closed its main headquarters in Sana'a and Hodeidah.
Economists and international organizations have criticized the Houthi militia’s attacks on banks. Rights Radar confirmed that targeting the banking sector in Yemen directly affects the confidence of depositors, and negatively affects the financial liquidity and living situation in the country.
