Finance
Building a Bank Mohammad Dastmaltchi co-founded an investment bank at the age of 17. He is now carving out a niche for online currency trading in the Middle East. By natasha tourish
t the age of 17, Mohammad Dastmaltchi co-founded Varengold Bank in Germany, making him one of Europe’s youngest bankers. The first German investment bank to focus exclusively on managed funds and alternative investment, Varengold now manages €10 Billion worth of
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transactions every year, as well as billions of monthly online FX turnover for 11,000 customers across 39 countries. Born in Germany where his parents relocated after fleeing Iran in the late 60’s, Dastmaltchi developed a passion for trading at the early age of nine, saving up his pocket money to invest in German stocks and shares.
At 16, while still in high school, he attended a trade seminar to enhance his trading skills and learn more about money and risk management. It was here he met his future partners, Steffan Fix and Yasin Qureshi, both older and more experienced bankers. Dastmaltchi says upon meeting, they “skipped the whole part about age” because the only point