Hussein Isam Al Uzri (Arabic: حسين عصام الازري) is the founder and was the first Chairman of Board of directors and President of the Trade Bank of Iraq, until he was forced to flee from Iraq in June 2011 to avoid being taken into custody during an Iraqi government investigation into alleged, but as yet unsubstantiated, violations. He is the Grandson of Abdul Amir Al Uzri, an Iraqi politician in 1950 when Iraq was a kingdom, who served as a minister several times and as an ambassador to Iran. His great uncle is Ahmed Chalabi, the Iraqi politician. In June 2011, Reuters reported that the Iraqi government had issued an arrest warrant for Al Uzri, stemming from an investigation at the Trade Bank.[1] As yet no details of the allegations, or any supporting evidence have been presented.
Many inside and outside Iraq believe that this action is politically motivated. A British adviser to the bank's board, Sir Claude Hankes, condemned the move by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government as "political skulduggery". He said the bank had resisted efforts by members of the government to try to make it undertake "improper banking transactions".
During Hussein Al-Uzri’s stewardship, the bank grew from nothing to be the largest bank in Iraq. It now has international banking relationships with a total of 134 banks in 39 countries who have together provided TBI with substantial lines of credit. These banks include JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered. Agreements have been arranged with 17 of the largest Export Credit Agencies in the world. It has been audited by leading western firms from foundation, Ernst & Young for the first five years and then PricewaterhouseCoopers, who gave an unqualified report for 2010.
Mr. Al Uzri has 20 years of banking, commercial and project management experience in the Middle East, Europe and the former Soviet Union (FSU). He began his financial career in Amman, Jordan where he gained experience in credit analysis, feasibility studies, cash flow projections, investment analysis and IT. Mr. Al Uzri took charge of two restructuring projects for a bank where he turned around failing businesses and brought them back into profit within one year. Between 1992 and 2000, Mr. Al Uzri was resident in Moscow where he was manager of INPASS, a joint venture between Finland’s OKO Bank and UK financial technology firm CTL. In this capacity Mr. Al Uzri was responsible for the introduction of a number of financial services in the FSU including the first VISA cards (1992), the first Electronic Point of Sale machines (1992), and the first automatic teller machines (1993). From 2000-2003 Mr. Al Uzri was general manager for the Former Soviet Union and the Middle East based at CTL’s London headquarters.
Al Uzri is a 1985 graduate of Texas Tech University, where he received a degree in electrical and computer engineering.[2]
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