StanChart evacuating Dubai offices after Iran threatens banks - report

Standard Chartered has reportedly begun evacuating staff from offices in Dubai as lenders step up precautionary measures following an Iranian warning that Tehran will target US and Israeli banks in the region.

The London-based bank has a large presence in the United Arab Emirates and offices, including in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), a financial hub home to large international banks and law firms.

Iran said it would target economic and banking ​interests linked to the US ‌and Israel in the region, after an attack on an Iranian bank, a ​spokesperson for Tehran’s Khatam al-Anbiya military command headquarters said ​on Wednesday.

Many staff at foreign and local businesses have been working from home following US and Israeli attacks on Iran, which prompted Tehran to fire missiles at targets across the Middle East, causing damage and deaths across the Gulf and travel chaos.

StanChart's decision was reported by the Reuters news agency citing unnamed sources.

Following the creation of the DIFC in 2004 the centre now hosts more than 290 banks, 102 hedge funds, 500 wealth management firms and 1,289 family-related entities (as of December).

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com