The US on Wednesday imposed sanctions on more people and companies with ties to Iran's ballistic missile and drone programmes.
The new restrictions come as a 2015 UN resolution set by the Security Council to curb Iran's ballistic missiles programme was set to expire.
Missile-related restrictions placed on Iran by the EU were also set to expire on Wednesday.
The resolution “was based on the assumption that Iran would take the necessary steps towards restoring confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of its nuclear programme”, according to a joint statement from the US, UK and dozens of other countries.
“This has not happened.”
The resolution was part of the Iran nuclear deal, from which former US president Donald Trump withdrew in 2018.
The Treasury Department imposed sanctions on 11 people, nine companies and one ship based in Iran, Hong Kong, China and Venezuela.
They were accused of enabling Iran's missile and drone programme by supporting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics.
The US said it remains committed to constraining Iran's development and procurement of missiles, UAVs and other weapons.
“The United States will continue to take action to disrupt Iran’s proliferation of [unmanned aerial vehicles] UAVs and other weapons to oppressive regimes and destabilising actors, and we encourage the international community to do the same,” said Treasury undersecretary Brian Nelson.
Mr Nelson said Tehran's drones and other weapons “prolongs numerous conflicts in regions and around the world”.
The US has long maintained that Iran is supplying drones for Russia to use in its war against Ukraine.
Iran has also been accused of transferring drones to Houthi fighters to be used against the Yemeni government, which the rebel group denies.
“We see the horrific impact of Iran’s provision of missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles to designated terrorist organisations and militant proxies that directly threaten the security of Israel and our Gulf partners,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
“We see the destructive result of Iran’s transfer of lethal UAVs to Russia to target critical civilian infrastructure and kill civilians in Ukraine.”
Washington also released a new advisory on Iran's ballistic missile programme to alert people and business of Tehran's activities.
The advisory warns of “deceptive techniques” used by Iran's missile procurement networks including efforts to obscure recipients' identities.
The US said the purpose of the advisory is to help businesses ensure full compliance with US law.
Wednesday's actions freeze all assets US-based assets and prohibits the individuals from conducting business in the US or with any US-based business.
Any person or business that conducts business with a designated entity could also be punished.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Profile of Bitex UAE
Date of launch: November 2018
Founder: Monark Modi
Based: Business Bay, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: Eight employees
Investors: Self-funded to date with $1m of personal savings
