Neda Bashiri, Product Development Manager of IFB.
Iran’s stock exchange is seeking opportunities to tap Qatar’s capital market. A top official of Iran Fara Bourse (IFB) disclosed on Monday that the bourse is looking for dual listing of selected fixed income products on QSE. Some of the companies listed on IFB are also exploring opportunities for dual listings.
Iran Fara Bourse, also known as Farabourse, is an over-the-counter market for securities and other fixed income products in Tehran, Iran, which operates under official supervision of Securities and Exchange Organisation (SEO).
As of now, two bourses are operating in Iran. With over 300 listed companies and an estimated $170bn market cap, Tehran Stock Exchange is Iran’s largest stock exchange.
IFB is mainly a market for financial instruments including equities, sukuk, certificate of deposit (CD), Housing Mortgage Right (HMR), Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), Exchange Traded Project Fund (ETPF) and Intellectual Property (IP).
Neda Bashiri, Product Development Manager of IFB said negotiations with QSE authorities are progressing. “Once we get a positive response from Qatari authorities, high-level Iranian team will be arriving in Qatar for the follow-up discussions,” she said.
The discussions would be mainly focused on the possibilities of the dual listing of Iranian treasury bills and sovereign sukuks. Some companies listed on IFB are also interested in listing on Qatari bourse, Neda said. Neda was here to attend the 8th edition of annual investor relations conference.
Some of the securities that IFB is looking to list on Qatar are asset-backed products. So the default possibilities are near ‘zero’. Iran is also laying plans to offer Euro and Iranian Rial-denominated currency sukuks, she said.
Companies ranging from energy to metals sector and automobile to banks and financials are listed on IFB. SME is another major sector. The Fara Bourse is currently studying the creation of a debt market specifically for the country’s 700,000 small and medium-sized businesses.
Several companies in the industrial sector have expressed their interests in dual listing.
Iran is the second largest economy in the Middle East and North Africa with an estimated gross domestic product of $406.3bn, according to the World Bank. After lifting of sanctions in January, Iranian government is working to offer a range of debt instruments in the markets. Currently, the country’s banking sector provides an estimated 95 percent of all financing, leaving a gaping hole in the potential debt market.
