Central Bank of Iran Governor Valiollah Seif asked the Slovak Minister of Economy Vazil Hudak to help restore Iran’s credit rating in the EU to pre-sanctions levels.
“Iran and Slovakia have had a long history of good banking ties. We hope that the implementation of the nuclear accord would set the stage for expanding economic cooperation between the two countries,” Seif was quoted as saying by IRNA on Tuesday.
In a meeting with the Slovak minister who was visiting Tehran at the head of a delegation, Seif stressed the importance of adopting up-to-date international banking standards, specifically in regards with business management and transparency.
“Iranian banks are completely committed to international banking regulations,” he said.
The top banker stated that CBI has prepared the ground for adjusting Iranian banks’ standards with Basel II and Basel III and intends “to gradually reform the banks’ structures”.
“Due to the ratification of the anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism bills in Iran, we have held negotiations with governors of some European central banks asking them to remove Iran from the list of non-cooperative countries in combating the financing of terrorism, ” he added.
Iran took a meaningful stride toward upgrading its banking and financial laws closer to international standards with the Guardians Council recently verifying a long-pending bill to counter money laundering and financing of terrorism.
Asked about the reason for the European lenders’ hesitation in reconnecting with Iran, the CBI governor said there are a number of questions and ambiguities “which the CBI has been trying hard to settle.”
Seif said that his bank has been working hard in the post-sanctions era, establishing 244 correspondent banking relations and also opening 744 LCs in the past two weeks.
