Experts say the Taliban are unlikely to get about $ 10 billion in reserves from the Afghan Central Bank, which is largely hidden in New York.

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Taliban fighters will flag patrols in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Thursday, August 19, 2021.

Taliban patrol in Kabul, Afghanistan. Rahmat Gul / AP

  • According to experts, the Taliban “have little chance” to obtain a reserve from the Central Bank of Afghanistan.

  • “To tell the truth, it’s almost impossible,” said Robert Hockett, a professor at Cornell University.

  • Most of Afghanistan’s reserves are reportedly held by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

  • See other articles on Insider’s business page..

The Taliban “have little chance” to get their hands Afghanistan’s Central Bank Reserve of Approximately $ 10 Billion Most of the assets are likely to remain frozen in US bank accounts over the next few decades, according to legal and financial experts.

Robert Hockett, a professor of law and finance at Cornell University, told insiders on Wednesday about the possibility of the Taliban getting these reserves.

Mr Hocket said the Taliban was “not recognized as a legitimate government by the United States” and is essentially legally impossible.

“And the United States has the legal power to freeze the assets held by the government when it was replaced by a non-governmental government,” he added.

According to Hocket, the “only way” for the Taliban to see billions of dollars in reserves is “if it’s no longer the Taliban.”

“They may only be considered the legitimate government of Afghanistan if they cease to be the Taliban,” Hocket said.

Immediately after Taliban seizes control of Afghanistan Following the astonishing collapse of the Afghan government last month The United States is the most frozen Out of approximately $ 9.5 billion in national central bank assets.

And most of these reserves are reported to be held by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where many governments and foreign central banks hold assets.

Ajmal Ahmady, former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Afghanistan, I told the New York Times earlier About $ 7 billion of central bank reserves were held by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and $ 1.3 billion was held in international accounts.

These assets could be frozen “indefinitely” in the United States, Hocket said.

“There is no time, date, or limit on that period. Legally, it can literally take hundreds of years,” Hocket said.

“Afghanistan has assets in other countries and is definitely doing the same thing,” he added.

Khomeit pointed out that the United States had frozen Iran’s assets by billions of dollars after the 1979 Iranian Revolution, when Ayatollah Homainy ruled the government. In that case, Iran’s assets Frozen for decades..

“Of course, in Iran, that has been going on for decades,” Hocket said. “And if the Taliban itself lasts for decades, it can also last for decades in the Taliban.”

Another possibility for Afghan reserves is that frozen assets will someday be used to pay damages from proceedings filed by Afghan refugees who were airlifted abroad by the United States and the Allies by the time they were completed. That is the withdrawal of US troops from the area.

“I think many of these refugees are likely to be plaintiffs in the proceedings filed against the Taliban,” Hocket said. “I can imagine a class action proceeding in US federal court against the Taliban, or a type of Afghanistan controlled by the Taliban, seeking compensation from those assets.”

“Given that the United States does not recognize the Taliban as a government and distinguishes it from a type of terrorist group, the proceedings are likely to be” successful, “” Hockett said.

“I don’t think the Taliban could get this money back through all sorts of legal debates and legal proceedings,” Hocket said.

in the meantime, Afghanistan is left in a dire economic strait May the Taliban move to form a new government there.

The Taliban, struggling to raise money, can either “raise money through illegal drug trafficking, as in the last two decades,” or “rely on some kind of financial support from the fraudulent elements of the world that have money.” Said.

In addition, Hocket added that the United States can use frozen assets “as a kind of bargaining chip to beat the Taliban to negotiate with the Taliban and do certain things.”

“This is yet another case where the importance of the United States in the global financial system will give it a great deal of power,” Hocket said. “In such a case, we can see how important and powerful the role the United States plays in the global financial system.”

The Federal Reserve Board of Governors and the Treasury did not return a request for comment on this report.

A New York Fed official told insiders in a statement: “As a matter of policy, we do not recognize or discuss individual account holders.”

Read the original article Business insider

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