On Thursday, October 22, 2026, Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) announced the revocation of Bank Saderat Iran’s banking licence and ordered the liquidation of its operations in Hamburg, bringing an end to the presence of one of the Islamic Republic’s oldest financial institutions in Germany’s banking system.
Bank Saderat Iran had operated in Hamburg since 1962 and in Frankfurt since 1979. For decades, it served as an important banking channel for Iran’s economic ties with Europe. Through money transfers, foreign trade financing, letters of credit, and bank guarantees, the institution played a role in financial transactions connected to Iran.
The significance of this decision extends beyond the closure of a single banking institution. Bank Saderat Iran has a long history within the Islamic Republic’s foreign financing network. In 2006, the US Department of the Treasury cut off the bank’s access to the US financial system, and in 2007 it imposed sanctions on the bank for providing financial support to terrorist organizations. According to official documents from the department, approximately $50 million from the resources of Iran’s Central Bank was transferred between 2001 and 2006 through Bank Saderat’s international network to entities affiliated with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
According to findings by Germany’s financial supervisory authority, serious and unresolved deficiencies in the bank’s structure and management were among the grounds for revoking its licence in November 2025. With the implementation of the liquidation order and restrictions arising from European Union sanctions, the institution’s legal and banking presence in Germany is now coming to an end. The development points to a further narrowing of the Islamic Republic’s access to Europe’s formal financial networks.