Barran Press
On Sunday, June 2, 2024, the Chairman of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad Al-Alimi, reassured the banking sector and the international community about the importance of the Central Bank's recent decisions. These decisions mandate banks and financial institutions in areas controlled by the Houthis to relocate their headquarters to Aden, the temporary capital of Yemen.
During a meeting with the French Ambassador to Yemen, Catherine Colonna, Al-Alimi clarified that the Central Bank's decisions "only require banks and financial institutions in areas controlled by the Houthi group, which is internationally classified as a terrorist organization, to relocate their main operations management to Aden, including information systems, data centers, international operations management, and compliance management."
According to the official Yemeni news agency Saba, Al-Alimi stated that the decisions require these banks "to hold their general assembly meetings outside of areas controlled by the militias while continuing to operate as branches in all governorates under the existing regulations and laws."
Al-Alimi addressed the unilateral actions and practices that he described as "destructive," which he said the Houthi group, classified as a terrorist organization, has engaged in over the past years.
He mentioned that the group "has sought to divide the banking system, harm the national economy, exacerbate the humanitarian catastrophe, weaken confidence in the national currency, and ultimately print counterfeit currency, putting Yemeni banks at risk of international sanctions."
The Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council emphasized that "the Central Bank's decisions are purely technical financial measures, without any political motives. They were taken according to the Bank's powers, independence, and legal responsibilities to protect the banking sector from collapse, contrary to what the Houthi militias are promoting."
According to the agency, the meeting discussed the role of partners and friends in addressing Yemen's debt, supporting its efforts to improve economic and service performance, and mitigating the humanitarian crisis created by the Houthi group, which is internationally classified as a terrorist organization.
On Thursday, May 30, the Central Bank in Aden issued a decision suspending transactions with six Yemeni banks and financial institutions after the 60-day deadline for implementing its decision to relocate their headquarters to Aden expired.
In early April, the Yemeni Central Bank in Aden, the temporary capital of Yemen, issued a decision requiring commercial banks, Islamic banks, and microfinance banks to relocate their headquarters from Sana'a to Aden within a maximum period of 60 days.
The Yemeni Central Bank, recognized by the government, threatened in the decision's justifications to take all legal measures against banks that fail to implement the decision "under the provisions of the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism Law and its executive regulations."