UANI Applauds Nord Est Asset Management, Aktia, and Ameriprise Financial for Divesting from Lebanese Sovereign Debt

   

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 26, 2012 Contact: Nathan Carleton, press@uani.com Phone: (212) 554-3296 UANI Applauds Nord Est Asset Management, Aktia, and Ameriprise Financial for Divesting from Lebanese Sovereign Debt New York, NY - On Thursday, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) CEO, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, applauded the decisions by Nord Est Asset Management (Luxembourg), Aktia (Finland), and Ameriprise Financial (Minnesota, USA) to divest from Lebanese sovereign debt. All three firms were Lebanese bondholders according to March 30, 2012 reporting, and all three have recently responded to UANI that they no longer hold those investments. UANI also applauded the Danish firm Jyske Invest, which stated to UANI that it will take UANI's concerns to its board next month for review. Said UANI CEO, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace: We applaud Nord Est, Aktia, and Ameriprise Financial for divesting from Lebanese sovereign debt. Lebanese bonds are fraudulent, and any firm invested in them is risking reputational and fiduciary harm. We also applaud Jyske Invest for agreeing to discuss the issue of Lebanese securities with its board next month. No legitimate firm should trade in Lebanese sovereign backed securities, given Hizballah and Iran's illicit control of the Lebanese banking system. Investors are fleeing Lebanese debt securities because of the clear and unambiguous influence Hizballah and Iran have in perpetuating a sovereign-backed money laundering scheme that artificially supports Lebanon's economy. This month, UANI announced the results of a three month-long investigation into the influence of Iran and Hizballah in the Lebanese banking system (LBS) and Lebanon's sovereign bond market, and announced a campaign to compel legitimate financial institutions into divesting from Lebanon's bond market. UANI has previously announced that Erste-Sparinvest and Eaton Vance have already divested from Lebanese bonds. Click here to view UANI's letter to Nord Est Asset Management. Click here to view UANI's letter to Aktia. Click here to view UANI's letter to Ameriprise Financial. Click here to view UANI's letter to Jyske Invest. Click here to read the July 3 Wall Street Journal article, "Banks Get Pressed on Beirut." Click here to view UANI's research, "HIZBALLAH, LEBANON & IRAN: PARTNERS IN A SOVEREIGN MONEY LAUNDERING SCHEME." Click here to call on the U.S. Government to Sanction the Lebanese Banking System and for Bond Holders and Credit Agencies to end Lebanon Business. ###                                                                          United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) is a program of the American Coalition Against Nuclear Iran, Inc., a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran should concern every American and be unacceptable to the community of nations. Since 1979 the Iranian regime, most recently under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's leadership, has demonstrated increasingly threatening behavior and rhetoric toward the US and the West. Iran continues to defy the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the United Nations in their attempts to monitor its nuclear activities. A number of Arab states have warned that Iran's development of nuclear weapons poses a threat to Middle East stability and could provoke a regional nuclear arms race. In short, the prospect of a nuclear armed Iran is a danger to world peace. United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) is a non-partisan, broad-based coalition that is united in a commitment to prevent Iran from fulfilling its ambition to become a regional super-power possessing nuclear weapons.  UANI is an issue-based coalition in which each coalition member will have its own interests as well as the collective goal of advancing an Iran free of nuclear weapons. The Objectives of United Against a Nuclear Iran Inform the public about the nature of the Iranian regime, including its desire and intent to possess nuclear weapons, as well as Iran's role as a state sponsor of global terrorism, and a major violator of human rights at home and abroad; Heighten awareness nationally and internationally about the danger that a nuclear armed Iran poses to the region and the world; Mobilize public support, utilize media outreach, and persuade our elected leaders to voice a robust and united American opposition to a nuclear Iran; Lay the groundwork for effective US policies in coordination with European and other allies; Persuade the regime in Tehran to desist from its quest for nuclear weapons, while striving not to punish the Iranian people, and; Promote efforts that focus on vigorous national and international, social, economic, political and diplomatic measures. UANI is led by an advisory board of outstanding national figures representing all sectors of our country.

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