Bank Maskan Joins Regulated Forex Market

EghtesadOnline: State-owned Bank Maskan, the main lender in the housing sector, is to join the regulated forex market, head of the bank’s department for international affairs said Sunday.

News ID: ۷۴۸۰۸۰

05 August 2019

As a member of the new market, Bank Maskan has paid its membership fee proportional to its stake in the company that will oversee the regulated forex market, Firouzeh Tabari said, adding that all banks and exchange bureaus are obliged to pay their share to be able to participate in the market, Hibna.ir reported.

The market is scheduled to open August 12 to coincide with the annual Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha, the governor of the Central Bank of Iran, Abdolnasser Hemmati, said.

Tabari said the market will open with the participation of 100 plus money changers, according to Financial Tribune.

In the first phase, it will start work with the participation of Bank Melli Iran, as the pilot bank and other banks will join later.

It is said that the banks will function as brokerage within the regulated forex market.

Key stakeholders in the market include Iran Fara Bourse, the Association of Private Banks and Credit Institutions, Association of Bureaux de Change Operators and representatives from state banks.

Wholesale Business

On the aims behind this market, Tabari pointed to its function in discovering the real price of foreign currencies, improving transparency and security in forex trade, among other things.

The market will deal in wholesale currency in cash. A large volume of foreign currency will be offered on a base price set by the regulator.

The market is tasked with drafting a trading by-law, approved by the CBI, based on which prices in the closing hours of each trading day will determine the next day’s price with a difference not more than 5-10%.

The regulator also makes it mandatory, as is usual with stock markets, that there should be a bulletin in the regulated forex market to display prices online.

Retail forex trade will be the function of currency offices outside the regulated forex market.

The venue of the market is the second head-office of the CBI in Ferdowsi Street in downtown Tehran.