VENTURE CAPITAL POST

An international financial watchdog said on Friday member states should take action to ward off risks emanating from Iran and North Korea, which it said had failed to tackle money-laundering and financing of terrorism.

Still haunted by its failed attempt to prevent a steep drop in oil prices by slashing production by almost three quarters in the 1980s, the world's top oil exporter Saudi Arabia is determined not to make the same mistake again.

BNP Paribas has asked at least three banks to help it clear certain energy transactions in U.S. dollars next year to make sure it can keep its energy trade finance division operating after a ban imposed for violating U.S. sanctions, sources said.

New York's financial regulator wants some Commerzbank AG (CBKG.DE) employees to be fired as part of a settlement over allegations the German lender improperly processed transactions with Iran and other countries facing U.S. sanctions, according to people familiar with the matter.

The European Union is quietly increasing the urgency of a plan to import natural gas from Iran, as relations with Tehran thaw while those with top gas supplier Russia grow chillier.

The drop in oil prices to their lowest in two years has caught many observers off guard, coming against a backdrop of the worst violence in Iraq this decade, heightened tensions between the West and Russia, and sanctions against Iran.

German lender Commerzbank AG (CBKG.DE) is nearing agreement with U.S. authorities over its dealings with Iran and other countries under U.S. sanctions, sources familiar with the matter said.

Iran should embrace the Internet rather than see it as a threat, President Hassan Rouhani has said, in remarks that challenge hardliners who have stepped up measures to censor the Web.

Reuters said in its report that Britain's BP PLC has closed a $16 billion deal to develop Oman's Khazzan tight gas project. Construction of the tight gas project is expected to begin next year, while first gas is expected in late 2017.

Following a nuclear deal reached in Geneva, the European Union has removed the ban on insuring tankers transporting Iranian oil. The EU also agreed to release USD4.2 billion in frozen oil assets and permit Iranian crude exports to continue at its current levels.

The Setad, an entity created by the first Ayatollah, now had expanded its business interests to real estate and nearly twelve other Iranian companies both locally and worldwide.

After fearing US sanctions, Pakistan decided to ask Iran's government to finance a USD8.1 billion gas pipeline project.

NY DFS sent a letter to foreign reinsurers asking if they were linked with Iran.