76 Companies Pay $302m in Dividend

Listed companies paid 96 trillion rials ($302 million) in dividends in the last calendar month (ended Sept. 22). 
According to data released by the Central Securities Depository of Iran (CSDI), the capital market clearing house, the dividends were paid to 6.12 million shareholders. 
The payments increased after companies were legally obliged to pay through online platforms. This time around, dividends were paid by 76 companies with Mobarakeh Steel Company topping the list at 4.09 trillion rials ($12.6 million).
Names of the other companies were not available. 
In the past, companies paid dividends manually in the capital markets and stock exchange. Calculations were undertaken through manual files and profits were transferred to the bank accounts of companies. 
Due to the bloated bureaucracy, millions of retail investors, mostly small shareholders, faced bottlenecks in getting their money from banks.  
To address the problem, the Securities and Exchange Organization announced a legal obligation for listed companies to deposit dividends directly to the accounts of shareholders.  
It obliged companies to pay dividends through a centralized platform and within three months after the annual general assembly of companies. Penalties are envisioned for managers who don’t play by the rules.   
Long demanded by retail investors, the SEO decision helped them receive their dividends without hassles.