(Files) Iranians walk past an Ayandeh Bank branch (L) in the capital Tehran on January 14, 2017. (Photo by Atta Kenare / AFP)
Tehran: Iran declared one of the country’s largest private banks bankrupt with its assets absorbed by the state, official media reported Saturday, in a rare move in the country grappling with international sanctions.
Founded in 2012, Ayandeh Bank had a network of 270 branches across the country, including 150 in the capital Tehran alone. But it had more recently been crippled by debt, with accumulated losses amounting to the equivalent of about $5.2 billion and roughly $2.9 billion in debts, according to the ISNA news agency.
On Saturday, queues of customers could be seen outside a former Ayandeh Bank…