Licensed Exchange Houses Reach 419

The Central Bank of Iran has updated its list of bureaux de change officially allowed to operate in the market. According to the latest update by CBI on March 4, a total of 419 exchange houses have obtained a license and are authorized to operate, IBENA reported. The previous update in the list came on March 2, 2016, which put the number of licensed bureaux de change at 396. According to a CBI directive, moneychangers in Tehran, Karaj, Isfahan, Shiraz, Mashhad, Ahvaz and Tabriz require a minimum capital requirement of 40 billion rials ($1.07 million) to establish operations while for all other cities, the amount stands at 20 billion rials ($500,000).