Iran's lender 'looking presence in Germany, Spain, Turkey and China'

Bank Pasargad, Iran's second-largest listed bank, is looking to raise capital and expand overseas now that the country is free of the shackles of sanctions, a senior official told Reuters.

After years of being frozen out of the global financial system, Iran's banking sector will be crucial to the country's efforts to win business from foreign firms and attract investment to upgrade its infrastructure, as dealmakers and conduits for the cash flows.

Bank Pasargad aims to raise money from both Iranian and foreign investors and to expand at home - including in investment banking and asset management - as well as overseas, according to board member Mostafa Beheshtiroui.

It is exploring the possibility of establishing a presence in countries including Germany, Spain, Turkey and China, which could be in the form of wholly owned branches, joint ventures with local partners or outright acquisitions, he said in a telephone interview. It eventually plans to seek a listing on a foreign stock exchange.

The lender outlined its plans after a nuclear deal between world powers and Iran led to the removal of the curbs on Tehran's banks, bringing out of isolation an industry big enough to wield some clout on a global level.

The Iranian banking sector consists of eight state-owned and 19 privately owned banks which held a combined $582 billion in assets at the end of 2014, according to central bank data. By comparison, South Africa's banking sector has over $400 billion in assets, while Turkey's has about $800 billion.

Iran itself is the second-largest economy in the Middle East and North Africa region after Saudi Arabia, according to the World Bank, and with around 78 million people has the region's second-largest population of the...