Tehran, Dec 30, IRNA � Director of Banking and Insurance Affairs of Supreme Council for Iranian Free Zones said Wednesday all legal obstacles in way of opening foreign banks' branches have been lifted, advising such banks to focus on offering services including finance deals.


Nasser Khormali focusing on provision of the required legal prerequisites for foreign banks presence in Iran said that presently the country's high level monetary and banking sources, which include the High Council for Money and Credit and the Central Bank of Iran, have provided the legal basis for foreign banks' presence in Iran.
'The foreign banks' branches need to be established in regions outside the Iranian Customs Organization's domain; in other words, those banks must function outside the Iranian mainland and inside the free zones,' he added.
He said that the High Council for Money and Credit is devising the set of rules and regulations for those banks.
Khormali added that after receiving requests from foreign banks in Iran at the Supreme Council for Iranian Free Zones, their requests will be forwarded initially to the secretariat of the council and from there to the Central Bank of Iran where the conditions and documents will be surveyed and the required licenses will be issued.
The director of Banking and Insurance Affairs of Supreme Council for Iranian Free Zones also said that the existence of rich resources in Iran, the termination of international sanctions and the emerging opportunities in Iran have all in all created golden opportunities for Iran to gain high benefits and the banking field is no exception in that regard.
He said that the foreign banks will offer all the regular services that the Iranian banks provide, in addition to some extra services such as offering finance deals, bringing to the country foreign currencies at lower costs, deciding their interest, loan, and partnership rates freely and their banking charges in accordance with the free market rules.

By IRNA