Bank Mellat - Tehran, Iran

Bank Mellat is a private Iranian bank with a long history. It was established in 1980, as a merger of ten pre-revolution private banks, and its name literally means "Bank of the Nation". Over time, Bank Mellat has grown to be one of the largest commercial banks in the Islamic Republic of Iran, boasting a paid capital of Rials 33.5 billion and ranking among the top 1000 banks of the world. As part of the Iranian government's policy of privatizing state-owned companies, Bank Mellat has also been undergoing the process of privatization since 2007. The Bank Mellat London branch was subsequently merged with the Bank Tejarat branch to form Persia International Bank PLC.