Closure of 'Violating' Exchange Offices in Tehran

Hamid Tehranfar, the Deputy Supervisor of the Central Bank of Iran, announced on Tuesday, February 7, the closure of several exchange offices he described as 'violating and unlicensed' on Ferdowsi Street in Tehran, stating that the closures would continue. He also reported that according to new regulations from the Central Bank, the Exchange Association will determine and announce the buying and selling rates of currencies every hour. Tehranfar emphasized that these exchange offices lacked licenses, and some were offices whose licenses were related to the Gold and Jewelry Union and had been revoked, yet they had not taken steps to obtain new licenses. He urged exchange offices to visit the Central Bank to apply for or renew their licenses. In November 2013, the Central Bank had also announced the revocation of licenses for 67 exchange offices. In August 2013, the bank issued new regulations for the establishment and operation of exchange offices, which increased the required capital for establishing an exchange office to five billion tomans for individuals and 20 billion tomans for legal entities, up from 100 million tomans previously. Concurrently with the announcement of the Deputy Supervisor's statements, IRNA reported that currency exchange operators would gather on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the 'regulations governing currency operations of exchange offices' issued by the Central Bank. According to these regulations, exchange offices are only allowed to buy and sell currencies if they simultaneously announce the buying and selling rates at their location or on their website. The announcement of the average buying and selling rates by the Exchange Association is also among the provisions of these regulations. Tehranfar stated that previously there was no specific reference for determining currency rates in the market, adding that it was sufficient for someone to falsely present themselves as a market leader for exchange offices to follow them. In 2012, following a sudden increase in foreign currency prices in the Iranian market, government officials accused some exchange offices of disrupting the currency market. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the former President of Iran, himself identified 22 individuals as 'the main culprits of the currency market chaos' without naming them. In this context, Mohammad Reza Rahimi, Ahmadinejad's first deputy, also announced on October 30, 2012, the arrest of an individual named 'Jamsheed Bismillah,' whom he claimed was responsible for disrupting the Iranian currency market and 'determining the price of currency in Iran from a stool.' Jamsheed Mirabi, referred to as 'Jamsheed Bismillah' by Rahimi, denied the allegations in an interview with the economic newspaper Te'adol in July 2014, stating that he had been arrested in October 2012 along with 90 others.