Business: Bankers Grab the Booty

A rush for Iranian assets sends lawyers into courts on two continents

A mighty new weapon—the lawsuit —is being rolled out in the economic power struggle between the U.S. and Iran, and the battling is shaking the money markets. Lawyers last week went on a suing spree, grabbing up Iranian corporate and industrial assets not only in the U.S. but also in West Germany. The free-for-all rush after Iranian booty put investors and businessmen on edge, rattled money markets and in the process helped send the dollar into a renewed slide while pushing gold back up to more than $400 per oz. In the scramble, banks even wound up suing each other. Lamented one London finance man: "The situation is total confusion." Added a nervous colleague in Frankfurt: "The chaos is complete. You just do not know what to expect next."

That was certainly true for the West German government. In a move that left Bonn officials sputtering in helpless surprise, Morgan Guaranty Trust, the U.S.'s fifth largest bank and a leading creditor of the Iranian government, quietly went into an Essen court and attached Iran's 25% share of two of West Germany's best-known companies, Friedrich Krupp GmbH, a diversified steel and engineering combine (1978 sales: $5.9 billion), and Deutsche Babcock, a manufacturer of industrial equipment (1978 sales: $1.6 billion). Iranian stakes in the two companies were acquired under the Shah in 1974 and 1975, and they have a market value of approximately $270 million.

Morgan Guaranty argued that the attachment orders, which are automatically issued in West Germany in cases of disputed debts, were necessary to cover possible losses from Iran's default on a $500 million loan. It had been made by an eleven-bank syndicate that included Morgan and was headed by Chase Manhattan Bank. In fact, Morgan Guaranty's $40 million share of the loan is more than covered by the estimated $8 billion to $9 billion in Iranian assets that were frozen in U.S. banks by presidential decree on Nov. 14.

To West Germans, the Morgan Guaranty action was an unnecessary power play that, because of the court action, threatened to propel West Germany directly into the U.S.-Iranian conflict. Said a finance ministry official in Bonn: "It was a damned stupid thing to do. This is endangering not only our business interests, but the lives of 1,500 West Germans still in Iran."

The attachment order must be followed by court trial in which Morgan Guaranty is expected to argue that it needs to hold onto the shares until Tehran guarantees that its loans will be repaid. Meanwhile, more asset seizures seem likely. Asserted an officer of a New York City multinational bank: "We are going to grab every Iranian asset in sight. There is already a line of banks halfway down the block in West Germany waiting to do the same thing."