Tehran, Iran, Feb. 17
By Mehdi Sepahvand – Trend:
There used to be great demand from the private sector to open banks in Iran’s free zones, but all met with failure and discouragement because of too harsh regulations by the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), said Akbar Torkan, coordinating secretary of Iran’s Free Economic Zones Organization.
He added that foreign entities also failed to launch offshore banks in Iran’s free zones although numerous rounds of talks had been held with the CBI which led to the drafting of a set of regulations for launching the banks, IRNA news agency reported February 17.
An offshore bank is a bank located outside the country of residence of its depositors, with most of its account holders being non-residents of the jurisdiction.
This is while, Torkan said, free zones are being developed in Iran more and more after the removal of economic sanctions in 2016.
The official said according to general government policies, free economic zones are responsible for transferring technology to the country, improving production as well as export of products and services.