Iraq's central bank is reportedly considering to withdraw the licenses of five commercial banks, which are not able or reluctant to boost their capital before the end of January 2014 deadline.
A statement by Central Bank of Iraq governor Abdul-Basit Turki Saeed was quoted by Reuters as saying, "Other banks have either fulfilled (the requirement) or have done something, but these five are not working to fulfill it."
Iraq’s central bank has been constantly demanding privately owned banks operating in the country to shoot up their capital to $215m, as part of its plan to boost the banking system and make it more efficient.
Previously, the apex banking regulatory set the deadline of June 2013, which was extended to 31 January 2014.
Around 23 private conventional banks and nine private Islamic organizations, as well as seven state banks and 16 foreign banks are currently operating in Iraq, as per the data available at the central bank website.