U.S. restricts UAE bank branch over Iran links as Africa’s 2nd-largest economy says its banks are unaffected

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has announced that recent financial restrictions imposed by the U.S. on the United Arab Emirates branch of Banque Misr do not impact the bank's domestic operations or any other financial institutions in Egypt.

The restrictions, announced on Friday, are part of a broader effort by the United States government to disrupt financial networks associated with Iran.

Specifically, the U.S. Treasury Department accused the UAE-based unit of Banque Misr of processing approximately $1.8 billion in transactions between January 2024 and June 2026 for entities allegedly connected to "Iranian shadow banking networks".

These penalties have been instituted under the Trump administration's Operation Economic Outcast initiative, which seeks to cut off Tehran's access to international funds.

Consequently, the targeted UAE branch has had its access to U.S. financial services, including correspondent banking, restricted.