The Glamorous Asma and Syrian Banking
Paul, for what it's worth, your post about the glamorous Asma of Syria and the PR savvy of her promoters reminded me of a rumor I heard lately from a Syrian. No idea if it's true, just one of those on-the-grapevine things. He was telling me that owing to pesky post-September 11 regulations, those who prefer discretion in their banking have taken their money out of Switzerland and put it in Damascus. Why Damascus? Apparently, Asma's charm--and her background, which allows her to talk banking with unusual credibility--have transformed Syria into the fashionable place to launder your money. Or at least to keep it away from prying, awkward questions.
The rumor certainly tracks with developments in the Syrian banking sector:
Syria is offering foreign investors a majority stake in its private banks as the country pushes ahead with efforts to boost economic reforms.
The move also comes as Syria steadily sheds its image as a radical in the political arena, with ties warming up with United States, France and Saudi Arabia.
Central bank governor Adib Mayala told Agence France-Presse on Wednesday that under a Jan. 4 banking law the maximum capital stake for foreign investors was being raised to 60 percent from the current 49 percent.
Now, I don't know about you, but at a time when so much of the world is doing a mite poorly, bank-sectorwise, don't these numbers seem impressive?
Lending by Syrian banks rose 18 percent last year, according to figures released by the Central Bank of Syria last month. Customer deposits rose by 12 percent and banking assets by 14 percent over the same period, the figures show.
The total loan portfolio of local banks – excluding loans made to the central government – hit SYP 1.03trn (USD 22.4bn) at the end of 2009, an 18.2 percent increase over the year. Lending by private conventional banks rose by 35 percent while lending from private Islamic banks rose by 50 percent. Loans granted by Islamic firms still only represent 2 percent of all lending in the country, however. The credit portfolio of state banks rose by 15 percent throughout 2009. State-owned banks continued to dominate lending in the country, accounting for 83.5 percent of all loans.
Don't get me wrong--I think impressive growth is what you'd expect to see when you encourage private sector investment. But goodness, that's a lot of growth for a country that just wouldn't seem to me, at first blush, like such an attractive place to bank.
Makes me wonder if your theory might be slightly off. Perhaps it's not so much that there's a skillful PR firm behind Asma as that she is herself the skillful PR firm behind Syria. That's the rumor, anyway. Of course, this being the Middle East, someone will always say that about the woman who's married to the guy who's really in charge. But this seems more plausible in her case than it usually does.
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Re: The Glamorous Asma and Syrian Banking
Asma Al-Assad is certainly no dope. This is fascinating, and I would not be surprised if she were the force behind it. She may also be the one who figured out how to use Ben Barber and the civil-society argument he peddles.
Jul '10
Re: The Glamorous Asma and Syrian Banking
Fascinating, indeed, and moving rapidly through plausibility, possibility and into probability. It makes such a lot of sickening, amoral sense, that a Thug Regime with an outstanding record of stability should be a banker of choice for other Thugs, both in Regimes and out of them. Wouldn't a Mexican or Columbian narcotraficante, Russian oligarch or Prime Minister, Chinese general or software pirate, want to have their money with the First Bank of Damascus? A Gnome of Damascus not only guarantees you an excellent rate of return, but freedom from the sort of pesky nonsense that goes on in Zurich these days...
The only downside is that you are keeping your money with another Thug. Would any Thug trust their money with someone just like them? Even Thugs have a certain amount of self-awareness, and a lot of street smarts.
Hence, the Asma Difference, which seals the deal. This is a westernised, glamorous and chic Thug Regime, that is featured in Vogue; not a bunch of badly tailored, odiferous, Levantine mafiosi.
What a wonderful place to put one's money!
Oct '10
Re: The Glamorous Asma and Syrian Banking
Western democracies are making a terrible strategic error in pummeling Swtizerland (and some other places) over banking secrecy just to squeeze out a few extra tax dollars/pounds/euros. For all that Switzerland takes its banking secrecy very seriously, I have no doubt the Swiss intelligence services know a lot about what is going on, and are happy to share it with their Western counterparts. Damascus won't. Neither will Singapore. Driving this business out of the West means the West will have even less of a clue about what is going on.