Regulated Forex Market CEO Elected

EghtesadOnline: Board of directors of the regulated foreign exchange market elected a managing director for the new body, the Central Bank of Iran website reported.

News ID: ۷۴۷۱۲۱

22 April 2019

The members agreed on procedures through which authorized exchange offices and agent banks operate as brokerage within the regulated forex market.

According to Fars news agency, Mahmoud Shekasteband, the chief of Melli Exchange Company affiliated to Bank Melli will head the regulated forex market.

Other members of the board include Shahab Ghorbani, the chief of Association of Bureaux de Change Operators of Iran, Samad Karimi, head of the CBI Export Department, Amir Hamooni, the CEO of Iran Fara Bourse (a junior stock market), and Yousef Hassanpoor, Financial Tribune reported.

CBI governor Abdolnasser Hemmati announced earlier in the month that the long-awaited market would be launched soon.

He pointed to the crucial need for a stable currency market as a prerequisite for businesses to chart their future course of action in a calm and stable economic environment.

Rules for launching the first-ever forex market in Iran were approved in January by the Money and Credit Council - a top financial decision-making body headed by the CBI boss.

The CBI governor said earlier that the market will be launched with the participation of banks and certified exchange shops under CBI supervision, adding that the focus of the market will initially be on cash transactions.

Exporters can also offer a part of their currency earnings in the market, he said, and hoped that the move would improve transparency and create the grounds for a moderate exchange rate.

As per Hemmati’s earlier statements, the function of the market will be to discover prices and provide the people’s small needs and services.

The move is seen as another CBI measure to regulate the chaotic forex market dominated by informal traders. It seeks to create and organize a transparent market where foreign currency will be traded in cash through an electronic platform in the framework of MCC regulations.

Now currency trade takes place in a limited manner in currency exchange shops and the so-called integrated forex deals system known as Nima, which is a platform for exporters and importers to buy and sell currency.

Last September the Supreme Economic Council, an ad hoc decision-making body, headed by President Hassan Rouhani, gave Hemmati authority to intervene in the currency market and take measures, if and when necessary, to help stabilize currency trade.