TEHRAN - Head of Iran's Securities and Exchange Organization (SEO) Majid Eshghi has said the main goal of his organization is to protect and support the rights of the shareholders, and SEO is taking all the necessary measures to achieve this goal.

Speaking to IRNA on Tuesday, Eshghi pointed to the measures taken by the 13th government and the SEO to return investors' trust in the stock market, saying: “The philosophy of the Securities and Exchange Organization is to design, organize and develop a transparent, efficient and fair market for investors so that they are able to operate smoothly in this market.”

“At the beginning of the new management at SEO, which started from the first months of the 13th government incumbency, our main goal was defined in the form of a strategic plan, which was about protecting the rights of investors with an emphasis on long-term benefits, and in this regard, we defined some diverse programs,” Eshghi said.

Mentioning other goals of the SEO outlined in the organization’s strategic plan, the official said: “Increasing the effectiveness and monitoring of capital market activities was also put on the agenda, and in this regard, various programs were implemented in three main areas of market monitoring, monitoring of financial institutions and supervision of IPOs.”

He further pointed to the facilitation of financing, capital formation, and risk management as other strategic programs of the Securities and Exchange Organization and stated: “Considering the negative rate of capital formation in the past years and the increase in the percentage of depreciation of economic enterprises, major measures were needed to be taken on the issue of capital formation and financing.”

“Diversifying investment options by relying on indirect investment has been one of our main and long-term plans in the organization,” he added.

EF/MA