Syria Allows Investment Banking

At the same day that Iran got extra tough sanctions targeting foreign trade and financial services, Syria allowed investment banks to operate in the country:

The official news agency said the government had set 20 billion Syrian pounds ($429 million) as the minimum capital at which investment banks could open and would allow the transfer of profits from operations abroad for foreign shareholders and Syrian expatriates.

There are two ways to look at this: You can either say that Syria is riding to the rescue of Iran by opening up extra financial channels to them, or you can look at it as a symbolic breaking up with Iran and joining the “west” where investment banking is one of the rites of passage to becoming a “club member”.

There’s also the probability that this was a coincidence, but that would be too boring wouldn’t it?