The Securities and Exchange Organization, invested 18.4 trillion rials ($79.8 million) in the Capital Market Stabilization Fund (CMSF) in the second half of previous fiscal year (Sept 2020-March 2021).
According to Mostafa Beheshti, the SEO deputy chief, the deposit was from the regulator’s income from trading fees and interest on its bank deposits.
“The articles of association of the stabilization fund allows the SEO to invest part of its income in the fund,” he was quoted as saying by the Securities and Exchange News Agency.
The CMSF was created in 2017 to help resolve the credit crunch in the bourse. It has a mandate to support the market and safeguard investors’ interest.
Investors pay 1.5% in fees for conducting trade via the stock market. From the trading fees 30% should be deposited with the CMSF.
Citing financial statements of the SEO, Behzad Khaki, the SEO’s deputy for financial affairs, said that the regulator has invested a portion of its resources in banks, adding that its affiliate companies had 20 trillion rials ($86m) in bank deposits in the fiscal year that ended in March.
The CMSF is expected to get more support following the steep decline in the share market. In May the government said $200 million will be deposited with the CMSF in the latest effort to revive the bourse.
Money will be pumped from the National Development Fund of Iran, the sovereign wealth fund. The CBI earlier said it had already injected the rial equivalent of $50 million on behalf of the NDFI.
