FinCEN Targets Banque Misr UAE as Primary Money Laundering Concern as OFAC Sanctions Iran Facilitators
The U.S. Treasury Department on 28 August 2026 escalated Operation Economic Outcast with a proposed FinCEN Section 311 action against Banque Misr in the United Arab Emirates and new OFAC sanctions targeting facilitators linked to Iran’s financial networks.
FinCEN issued a notice of proposed rulemaking finding Banque Misr UAE to be a foreign financial institution of primary money laundering concern. Treasury estimates that between January 2024 and June 2026, Banque Misr UAE processed approximately US$1.8 billion for 103 companies that may form part of Iranian shadow-banking networks.
Treasury said the bank’s customers included apparent front companies used by Iran’s Ministry of Defense and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to evade sanctions and launder funds. The proposed action would prohibit U.S. financial institutions from opening or maintaining correspondent accounts for Banque Misr UAE and would require them to take reasonable steps to prevent foreign correspondent accounts from being used to process transactions involving the bank.
The proposal applies only to Banque Misr UAE and not to Banque Misr operations in other countries. It is not yet a final rule. The public comment period will close 30 days after the notice is published in the Federal Register.
OFAC designates Bank Melli manager and Hong Kong front company
In parallel, OFAC designated Iranian national Reza Mohammad Taeedi, general manager of Bank Melli’s Dubai branch, under E.O. 13224 for acting for or on behalf of Bank Melli. Treasury said Bank Melli has facilitated billions of dollars in transactions through accounts controlled by the IRGC-QF and has supported funds moving to Iranian-aligned proxies and partners.
OFAC also designated Hong Kong-based Kameng Trading Limited under E.O. 13902 for operating in Iran’s financial sector. Treasury said sanctioned Iranian exchange house Pedram Pirouzan Exchange House, also known as Opal Exchange, used Kameng Trading to launder money for Iran and gain access to the international financial system.
As a result of the designations, U.S.-held property and interests in property of the designated persons are blocked, and entities owned 50% or more by blocked persons are also blocked. The sanctions designations are administrative actions, not criminal convictions.
The combined action is significant because it pairs a proposed correspondent-banking restriction with targeted sanctions against individual and corporate facilitators, directly increasing AML, correspondent-banking and sanctions-screening exposure for institutions with links to Iranian shadow-finance networks.
