"ملف 60/20 I ‏(C 93) بنك إيران الامبريالية: البحرين وغيرها" [و‎‎١‎١‎٠] (٤٠٩/٢٢٠)

CU&KlDM*Ti/vL»
D. 0. ^,0. C/69.
i *
*■" l
' $
! a li**
/
01 floe of the Political Kesidcnt
in tho >erBi&n Gulf.
/ I •
Cunp, Shiraz, 22nd July 1944. \\0
Vou roay remember that in uy aemi-olficial letter J!»o#
588-»3 of 8th fe.y 1944 X Mentioned that X had disoueBed a secret
rsxiter witVi Shaikh ^alrgan ich I would diBolose in due course ?
X referred to the opening of a branch of the Imperial Bank of
Iran at Bahrain,
2* A long v,b*y back the imperial Bank had the chance of
opening in bahrain t ana refuaea it» ana the j^astern Bank stepped
in* They had some lean years, but the seven fat years amply
repaid them for their enterprise, and for some time past it has
been obvious that a little competition would be in cahrain*s
interests. X heard privately that the Americans had asked
Lloyds to coiae in, but Lloyds, who represent the I .B .I, in
India, said quite properly that they considered it was in
territory and asked them to take it up.
3. There was no tiiiie to lose, so having fixed things
with Shaikh :iait;jan, I put forward cay annual trip to Tehran,
and ^ot Walters, the Chief Jana^er of the i.b.X., to conclude
the arrangements t^nd select a suitable inan to open the branch,
and he lias now t;one to India to recruit staff. I did not
want the astern bank to have long notice of the i .B .I*© intent-
-ions as X knew it Viould only lead to a personal appeal to
preserve their csonopoly.
4. If the i,B # X. had not agreed to come in, the way
would have been open for someone we did not want. I saw
from a recent intercept that the riastern Bank feared the
opening of an American bank in lihahran, and ^e mi^it easily
have had them in Bahrain, or, worse still, some mushroom
grow^th such as we nearly got in Kuwait. You may have
seen from recent intercepts that there has been some talk
of an Arab bank in the Qulf with a capital of 10 - lb lakhs
and a half baked concern of this description would discredit
serious banks. Itxe I.B.I., who have proved very satisfactory
in Kuwait, will fill a crying need in Bahrain as the Astern
Bank do not understand the Persian trade, and we have every-
i -thing to 4$ain by having them on both sides of the Gulf.
Kickinbotham is aware of the position, and i an.
sending a copy of this letter to Peel. ^
$ under d.o. P:L. No.
C/70 d. 22-7-44.
t Caroe, ,C» X.iu# , 0. » X.C ,v>»,
Secretary to the Government oi India,
External Affairs Department, isiew Delhi.