The Iranian central bank has denied that Sarmayeh Bank in the country will be dissolved amid growing concerns about corruption and mismanagement. This comes days after Ayandeh Bank, one of the largest banks in the country, was declared bankrupt.
With headquarters in Tehran, Sarmayeh Bank was founded in 2005 in line with the Islamic regime's move to privatise the banking sector. It has 153 branches, including in countries like the UAE, Tajikistan and the Netherlands.
Iranian banks, including Sarmayeh, Day, Sepah, Iran Zamin, and Melal, are also facing challenges, according to reports #AyandehBank #Iran https://t.co/CeSsn86IzJ
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The corruption allegations against Sarmayeh Bank mainly arises from the investments of Iran Teachers' Reserve Fund, of which around $3.5 billion has disappeared mysteriously. The fund receives monthly deposits from eight lakh employed and retired teachers, but the beneficiaries have not received their interest for the past few years.
Business mogul Hossein Hedayati, a member of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, was sentenced to 20 years in prison, after it was found that he pocketed money from the fund.
Bank's former chairman Parviz Kazemi, who was the labour minister in Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's cabinet, was handed 20 years in prison and 24 lashes, according to Radio Farda. Bank managers Ali Bakhshayesh and Mohammad Reza Tavassoli have also been convicted.
In total, there are around 400 suspects involved in several corruption cases and some of these include relatives of political officials in the regime, according to Iran International.
In 2024, a massive cyberattack by a ransomware group known as IRLeaks hacked individual account data from 20 domestic banks, including Sarmayeh.
In August, the central bank warned that if Sarmayeh Bank's board of directors and shareholders fail to increase its capital adequacy ratio, it will be slapped with special penalties and restrictions.
Experts in the country believe that Sarmayeh Bank is not facing outright liquidation as the government does not want to cause widespread panic among citizens.
Recently, Ayandeh Bank, which was was grappling with around $5.2 billion in losses and $2.9 billion in debts, was absorbed by the state-owned Melli Bank. The central bank has assured depositors that their money would be recovered.
"More than 90 per cent of Ayandeh Bank’s funds were allocated either to parties related to the bank or to projects managed by the bank itself,” Hamidreza Ghaniabadi, an official at the Central Bank of Iran, told Iran's IRNA news agency, adding that these bad debts led to its bankruptcy.
Iran News Update reported only 10 Iranian banks have capital adequacy over 8 per cent currently and most of these are specialised institutions like Venezuela Joint Bank, Middle East Bank and Export Development Bank of Iran.
