Private banks are obliged to increase their capitals to at least 4 trillion rials (about $400m), otherwise they should be merged to secure the minimum capital, the Central Bank governor stated.
ILNA news agency quoted Mahmoud Bahmani as saying that according to a recent approval of the Money and Credit Council, those banks which fail to meet the minimum required capital would be downgraded to financial institutions.
Private banks should raise capital to the stated figure by the end of the current Iranian year (March 20, 2011).