TEHRAN – Head of Iran's Securities and Exchange Organization (SEO) has said facilitation of the activities of stock market institutions like brokers will lead to the development of the capital market, IRIB reported on Monday.

“Facilitating the establishment of brokerage firms and the ease of licensing issuance for financial institutions, as well as the strict supervision of the SEO over the activities of such financial institutions, are the basis for the development of the capital market,” Majid Eshqi said.

Noting that the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs has put the support for the capital market on the agenda, Eshqi added: “In order to support the capital market, Economy Minister Ehsan Khandouzi has put issues such as the development of institutions, the removal of monopolies, the use of new tools, and the strengthening of the primary market on the agenda of this ministry.”

“Elimination of monopolies and facilitating the issuance of licenses for establishment of financial institutions is one of the most important missions of the Securities and Exchange Organization, however this goal has made the SEO more precise in performing its supervisory duties to prevent any possible problems for shareholders,” the official explained.

Referring to the concerns of some capital market experts and shareholders about the increase in the number of financial institutions without paying attention to quality improvement, he stressed: “The capital market has the capacity for a large number of financial institutions to be active in, and it is not that the smaller the number of institutions, the easier the monitoring of their performance would be.”

“Although the establishment licensing process has been facilitated, strict measures have been taken into account for reviewing the guidelines and standards, and the SEO’s supervision will become more stringent once the institutions become operational,” Eshqi noted.

As the market expands quantitatively, new ideas and tools enter the market which requires stronger supervision to prevent new risks. In this regard, the SEO will deal with violators very strongly, the official stressed.

EF/MA