A number of western banks including Standard Chartered, Citibank and HSBC, have started to pull out of Iraq amid escalating crisis in the country.

The rapid advance of Isis has already had consequences for Iraq’s economy and the pull out of global banks is likely to further deepen the financial woes of the war torn Iraqi economy and trade, as reported by The Financial Times.

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In order to safeguard its interests, Standard Chartered has sent the head of its Iraqi business and another British staff to Dubai, from where they continue to oversee operations.

StanChart launched branches in Baghdad and Erbil in 2013. StanChart has put its plans to open a third branch in Basra on hold for now.

A statement by Standard Chartered was cited by The Financial Times as saying, "The safety of our staff is of utmost importance for us and we have taken the appropriate measures to ensure that our business operations and staff are secure."

The head of Citigroup’s representative office in Baghdad has relocated to Amman in neighboring Jordan, while cautioning its multinational corporate clients to reduce the amount of cash they keep in Iraq to a minimum.

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A statement of Citigroup was cited by The Financial Times as saying, "Naturally, we are monitoring closely developments in Iraq, especially as they may affect staff security and the servicing of our clients’ needs."

However, some banks continue to operate in Mosul and other places where Isis has taken control, adding that foreign lenders continue to service their big multinational corporate clients in Iraq, the publication reported citing a banker.

"We want to be prepared for any breakdown of the country’s banking system," one banker told the news agency.