The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates says it will open an urgent investigation into the Emirati branches of Banque Misr, Egypt's state owned lender, after the US Treasury moved to cut those branches off from the dollar clearing system over alleged ties to Iran, according to Bloomberg.
The US Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network designated Banque Misr's UAE operations a critical node for Tehran's access to foreign currency, saying the branches processed roughly $1.8 billion over the past two years on behalf of around 100 companies that Treasury believes are potentially part of Iran's shadow banking network.
The action is narrowly targeted. It applies specifically to Banque Misr's operations inside the UAE and does not extend to the bank's core business in Cairo or its other international branches, leaving the bulk of Banque Misr's global footprint untouched for now.
The move lands just four days after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent launched what the department is calling Operation Economic Outcast, a sanctions campaign aimed at severing Iran's economic ties wherever they surface around the world. Banque Misr's UAE branches appear to be an early, high profile test case for that broader effort.
For its part, the UAE central bank says it is studying its options regarding Banque Misr's status in the country, with any formal action there expected to wait until the US legal process against the bank runs its course. The episode puts the UAE in an awkward position, balancing its own banking relationships in the region against a US sanctions push explicitly aimed at squeezing Iran's remaining access to the international financial system.