Iranian Banks Streamlining Operations Before Merger

An unprecedented bank merger is underway in Iran since last March in which five banks and credit institutions affiliated to military organization are being merged with the state-owned Bank Sepah. 
On the latest developments on the merger, Farhad Hanifi, the Central Bank of Iran deputy for supervisory affairs, said each merging bank has agreed to cut branches by 10%. 
In a talk with IBENA, Hanifi added that the reduction in branches follows an initial agreement between the merging institutions and the body in charge of overseeing the merger. 
“It is expected that [merged] banks take the necessary action before the end of the merging process” and streamline their operations. 
Earlier the CBI predicted the merger to be complete by the time the current fiscal year is out in March 2020.