The Economy Ministry has issued a statement, denying that the finance deals signed by Iran with other countries are jeopardized or dead, now that the US has decided to pull out of the multilateral agreement. It also criticized sources disseminating negative news and giving the impression that the US move has changed the odds against […]

After reviewing Iran’s conformance to a host of international banking regulations and standards, the research arm of the parliament has noted that the country’s banking woes are rooted internally and called for directing attention and resources to improve the system. “Despite the common perception of the people and some of the country’s elite, a considerable […]

Market News – Today a new piece of corporate Sukuk is to going to be underwritten on Iran Fara Bourse. The new Ijarah Sukuk securities will be issued by Saba Naft construction and engineering Co and have a nominal yield of 15%. With a maturity of 48 months and coupon frequency of 3 times per year (quarterly), SN1Q1 securities worth […]

Minister of Economic and Finance Affairs Masoud Karbasian called for increasing banking cooperation with Bulgaria, proposing that the EU member state open bank branches in Iran for facilitating bilateral trade. “Bulgaria can have direct banking relations with Iran by establishing bank branches,” Karbasian said in a meeting with his Bulgarian counterpart Emil Karanikolov, who arrived […]

Market News – In a meeting with the parliament members, the governor of the Central Bank of Iran provided the latest monetary and currency data on provision and allocation of resources to organize the FX market and un-supervised financial institutes; he then announced the implementation of a new oversight model, which is based on EU standards; the said model will […]

The Central Bank of Iran has allowed lenders to purchase the hard currency held by foreign tourists, transit drivers, foreign diplomatic missions based in Iran and representative offices of foreign banks. In a statement published on CBI’s website on Saturday, the bank said these entities can sell their currency to banks at the rate announced […]

One of Iran’s top bankers has renewed the beleaguered banking system’s call for service fees to emerge as the main source of income instead of interests. “Bank Melli Iran has started charging better fees for banking services to reduce its loan interest rates,” Mohammad Reza Hosseinzadeh, CEO of the bank, was quoted as saying by […]

Iran’s banking sector has rebounded in the absence of sanctions lifted under the 2015 nuclear deal and will continue to rebuild its foreign correspondent relations despite the recent US withdrawal from the deal, a senior banking official said. “At the time of signing JCPOA, our banking system was facing two main shortcomings: being out of […]

Market News – A banking official stated that charging higher fees on banking services (mostly transactions of POS, etc.) can lead to lowering interest rates on granted facilities; in fact, he said that in case this process continues for 3 years, the interest rate might come down to 14% and the rate on facilities would also reduce […]

By Alireza Hojjatnia Iran has been among the first nations to implement Islamic finance schemes, specifically on its banking sector by applying the usury-free legislation in 1983. Considering the standard framework adopted such as employing Sharia-compliant instruments both in Islamic and global markets, however, Iran falls behind in comparison with the international Islamic banking and […]