IslamicFinance.de

Governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Valiollah Seif said the country plans to establish a bank in Azerbaijan with 100% Iranian ownership. The plan involves turning a branch of Bank Melli Iran in Azerbaijan into an independent Azerbaijani bank. Seif added that all the shares of the new bank will be owned by Bank Melli Iran and that the details would be discussed next week during the visit of the Azerbaijani delegation to Tehran. Seif emphasized that certain plans were on agenda for Iran and Azerbaijan to use their national currencies in mutual transactions. Currently 32 banks operate in Azerbaijan and 36 banks operate in Iran.

Iran's central bank will take chairmanship of the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) for the year 2017. Shut out of the global system by sanctions, Iranian banks are eager to resume business with foreign lenders with deals ranging from funding infrastructure to insuring foreign trade. The IFSB Council said late on Wednesday it had appointed Iran's central bank governor Valiollah Seif as chairman, with Bangladesh Bank governor Fazle Kabir as deputy chairman. Iran's entire banking system follows Islamic principles, there are 34 Islamic banks that held total assets of 14,451 trillion rials ($448 billion) as of March. This represents around a third of total Islamic banking assets globally, although Iran's version of Islamic finance can differ with what is observed in other Muslim-majority countries.

Iran’s central bank governor Valiollah Seif demanded the Obama administration take more steps to facilitate his country’s banking transactions world-wide and warned the landmark nuclear agreement reached last year could be at risk if the U.S. doesn’t act. The White House in response to Seif’s comments replied that the U.S. is abiding by the nuclear agreement. Iranian banks have been unable to process international money transfers and finance trade freely in the months since the deal went into effect in January. Iran also has faced obstacles in repatriating tens of billions of dollars of its oil revenues.

Iran's president Hasan Rouhani has reportedly appointed Valiollah Seif, a private banker, as the head of the country's central bank. Seif will replace outgoing central bank head Mahmoud Bahmani. Seif ran the private Karafarin bank in Iran. He also supports independence for the central bank and a floating rate for Iran's currency, the rial, against foreign currencies. Seif takes over the central bank as sanctions over Iran's disputed nuclear program have been putting heavy pressure on the country's economy for the past two years. Oil exports have been slashed in half and the rial has lost two-thirds of its value since late 2011. Inflation also has shot up in the country.