The Central Bank of Iran and the ministry of cooperatives, labor and social welfarehave jointly agreed to grant permission to different groups from diverse career backgrounds to establish credit cooperatives. Putting the unregulated money market in order has been one of the most serious plans within the CBI. The issue has recently received widespread attention from banking officials, with CBI governor Valiollah Seif vowing that the market will be regulated by the end of the fiscal year (ending March 20). Initial steps for overhauling the unregulated money market include issuing authorizations for 110 credit cooperatives. The CBI has mandated that the activities of such companies be strictly exclusive to their members (not the general public). By imposing such regulations the CBI aims to bring unauthorized financial activities within credit cooperatives to an end, Mehr news agency reported. According to the ministry of cooperatives, nearly 1,000 credit cooperative units are actively operating across the country. Members and shareholders are mainly civil servants and services/manufacturing unit laborers.
