Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI) will connect to the international foreign exchange (FX) community using Thomson Reuters Dealing trading service and become the first bank in Iraq to do so.

This deal underscores Thomson Reuters strong position in the FX dealing space and further expands its global dealing community, according to the company's release.

TBI is a state-owned bank established in July 2003 to facilitate Iraq's international trade and the reconstruction of the country after the expiration of the UN Oil-For-Food Programme. TBI has built relationships with a network of 120 banks covering 63 cities in 39 countries. It was one of the first Iraqi banks to receive lines of credit from major international financial institutions.

By joining the professional international FX community through Thomson Reuters Dealing, TBI will be able to access liquidity and counterparties across global FX and money markets.

TBI traders will also use Reuters 3000 Xtra, the company's real-time, high performance desktop that delivers a full range of real-time, cross-asset data and analysis tools for global financial professionals. The bank's dealing code will be TBIB.

"This connection to the international foreign exchange community via the world's leading source of intelligent business information is a milestone for Iraq and for the bank," stated Zaid Mahdi, VP, business development at Trade Bank of Iraq. "The deal means that TBI will be able to widen the range of financial services it provides to help Iraqi businesses to trade internationally and grow. It is further evidence that business in Iraq is gradually returning to the international financial markets," stated Madhi in the release.