Parliamentarians have stepped in once again to resolve the ongoing troubles of Mizan Financial Institution. In a letter addressed to heads of the executive and judiciary branches, 35 lawmakers urged the authorities to end the sorry state of affairs facing Mizan’s depositors and former employees. The letter also addresses another similar crisis visiting a giant investment company, Padideh Shandiz.
Mousa Reza Servati, an MP from the town of Bojnourd–whose proximity to Mashhad, where Mizan Institution was based relates him to the drama—told the parliament’s news website ICANA that victims of uncertified institutions and companies like Mizan and Padideh Shandiz are not to be blamed since they were unsuspecting investors who trusted the institutions within the jurisdiction of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
“Now we are soliciting the officials to set the record straight and put an end to the woes of these institutions’ victims,” Servati said. “Mizan was backed by the former administration but the new government has cracked down on them and this leaves ordinary citizens the ultimate losers of these political games.”
The Mashhad-based credit institute was closed down by the Central Bank of Iran for failing to comply with the bank’s regulations and with its board of directors being detained at the order of judicial authorities in May.
It was rumored that Mizan would be merged with Bank Saderat but the private lender released a statement last month, saying it had “no exposure to the institution’s liabilities.”
Servati noted that uncertified financial and credit institutions should have been monitored before they started operation and said the officials’ collective silence on the matter “raises many questions.”
Servati said a meeting was held earlier this week at the Governor’s House in Mashhad, Khorasan Razavi Province, which yielded some good results and added that the lawmakers’ letter also calls for the enactment of decisions made at that meeting.
He disclosed that one solution agreed upon at the meeting was to entrust interested private lenders with taking the helm of affairs at Mizan.
“The local government suggested that Mizan’s banking license be transferred to these private banks so they will reimburse depositors and creditors but this requires the central bank’s consent, something we are pursuing in our missive,” Servati commented.
Dealing with uncertified financial institutions like Mizan has been a dilemma for the current administration since the mushrooming growth of such companies during the tenure of the previous government has made some of them too big to fail.
