UANI Calls on Advanced Series Trust and Prudential to Divest from Iran-Backed Lebanese Bonds

   

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 2, 2012 Contact: Nathan Carleton, press@uani.com Phone: (212) 554-3296 UANI Calls on Advanced Series Trust and Prudential to Divest from Iran-Backed Lebanese Bonds New York, NY - On Thursday, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) called on Advanced Series Trust and its investment adviser, Prudential Investments LLC (Newark, NJ) to divest from their Iran-backed Lebanese bonds. Advanced Series Trust, a Prudential fund, recently acknowledged holding Lebanese bonds to UANI, but claimed that it still "compl[ies] with all applicable U.S. regulations concerning foreign investment." UANI finds this response to be an enormously insufficient one for a U.S. firm to make in the context of a discussion about fraudulent terror financing, and calls on Advanced Series Trust to reconsider its holding of Lebanese debt securities. Said UANI CEO, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace: Advanced Series Trust and Prudential fail to grasp the seriousness of investing in Iran-backed Lebanese bonds. Holding fraudulent bonds is negligent, and Advanced Series Trust's defense of its investments through carefully worded excuses even worse. We call on Advanced Series Trust and Prudential to reconsider their obligations to their shareholders, and divest from Lebanese bonds. No legitimate firm should trade in Lebanese sovereign backed securities, given Hizballah and Iran's illicit control of the Lebanese banking system. Last 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, Eaton Vance, Nord Est Asset Management, Aktia, and Ameriprise Financial have already divested from Lebanese bonds. 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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