Central Securities Depository Of IRAN

CSDI Chairman of the Board of Directors elaborates on Islamic finance management and investment in line with Corporate Social Responsibility; "Waqf Fund" at 13th International forum on Islamic capital market held on October 17-18, 2021.

The Securities and Exchange Organization of Iran (SEO) held the 13th Virtual International Forum on Islamic Capital Market on October 17-18, 2021.

Chairman of the Board of Directors of Central Securities Depository of Iran, Mohammad Sadjad Siahkarzadeh, was among the main speakers of the event.

In an address to the gathering, the CSDI Chairman raised issues including Islamic finance management and investment in this market considering Corporate Social Responsibility and Waqf Fund.

Siahkarzadeh initially described "Socially Responsible Investment" from Islam’s point of view and said, "Any investment strategy seeking to consider both financial return and social/environmental good”.

He said, "In Waqf, the fund manager, licensed by the relevant regulator, issues the fund units for the purpose of the benevolent intentions and people willing to participate receive the units by financially contributing to the fund and then the Fund manager uses financial resources to buy the assets eligible for the endowment from the unit holders."

He then went on to speak about CSDI's role in regards with Funds.

The presentation concluded with a Q&A section.

The SEO has organized this event for 12 years in a row. This year, given the outbreak of Corona virus and for the safety measures of all respected participants, the SEO decided to hold this Forum online, just like the previous year.

Over 90 guests from 26 countries are participating in the current year’s event which was opened by the SEO Head Majid Eshqi on Sunday.

Some 10 prominent foreign experts and scholars are scheduled to deliver speeches in the forum along with three lecturers from Iran.

The heads of supervisory institutions from Peru, Maldives, Syria, Montenegro as well as the CEOs of stock exchanges of the Central African Republic and Kazakhstan are also special participants of the mentioned forum.

The theme of this year’s forum is “Global All-pervasiveness of Islamic Finance in Crisis”.

The main topics of this ICM include Islamic Capital Market and Sukuk Industry Roles in Macro-Financial Environment; Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in the Context of Islamic Finance; Islamic Alternative Investments: Passive Investing, PE Funds, VCs, etc.; Fintech and Islamic Capital Markets: Experiences, Innovations and Challenges; Start-Ups and SMEs Financing in the Context of Islamic Finance to remove Inflammation caused by COVID-19; Socially Responsible Investment during COVID-19 Crisis; and Crypto Assets in the Context of Islamic Capital Market: Practical and Regulatory Issues (Crypto ETFs, Platforms, ICOs, Tokenization, and Related Issues).

CSDI contributes to the Investor e-Access Services Task Force event on September 27, 2021 on the occasion of the Asia-Pacific CSD Group (ACG)'s Cross Training Seminar Networking week.

International Relations Director, Mr. Siavash Azimi, delivered a presentation on the topic of new ideas and implementation on the Investor e-Access Services from the past two years.

CSDI's state-of-the-art e-KYC technology i.e. the Comprehensive Information Gathering System (CIGS), Integrated Portal of Capital Market Stakeholders and  Integrated Portal of Electronic General Meetings (DIMA) were the three domestically developed services offered by CSDI to the investors of the Iranian capital market that were presented in detail by Mr. Azimi.

The Iranian members of the Federation of Euro-Asian Stock Exchanges (FEAS) in collaboration with the secretariat of FEAS held the “Meet the Market with FEAS | The Iranian Capital Market” virtual event on Thursday July 15th, 2021.

During the virtual meeting participants met the representatives of Central Securities Depository of Iran; Tehran Stock Exchange; Iran FaraBourse; Iranian Institutional Investors Association; Securities Exchange Brokers Association (SEBA); Tehran Stock Exchange Tech Mgmt. Co (TSETMC); Securities and Exchange Organization (SEO Iran).

The opening remarks were made by FEAS Secretary General, Konstantin Saroyan and Deputy Secretary General, Armenuhi Hovakimyan, followed by the Welcome Speech from Bahador Bijani, Vice-Chairman International & Foreign Investment Affairs of Securities and Exchange Organization (SEO) Iran.

CEO of Central Securities Depository of Iran, Hossein Fahimi, CEO of the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE), Ali Sahraee, CEO of Iran Fara Bourse, Amir Hamooni, also addressed the participants at the event.

Deep Insight About CSDI Services

The CSDI CEO, Hossein Fahimi, introduced CSDI and its most important roles and functions. He then elaborated on operations, responsibilities, and services provided to different market stakeholders, including foreign personal/legal investors in the Iranian capital market. Providing a deep insight about the post-trade services and mechanism designed and deployed by CSDI for settlement of trades in the Iranian equities and commodity markets were other areas that Fahimi covered during his online speech at the event. 

He said: “Opening trading accounts, registry, depository, safekeeping of securities, risk management, clearing & settlement, corporate actions (like dividend distribution) and such alike are among the main services that CSDI offers. The important and decisive role CSDI plays in these areas has made this company the only depository in Iran and one of the major players in the Iranian capital market.”

Mr. Fahimi explained the ways CSDI manages risks. He said employing credit limits, collateral management, Settlement Guarantee Fund, and partnership with banks are the four methods CSDI manages risks related to credit and settlement of trades. 

CSDI Services to Foreign Investors

He then went on to enumerate the three groups of services offered to foreign investors of the Iranian capital market i.e. legal, operational and value-added which he then described thoroughly.

Common Goal of Development

In closing he hoped that with good will, clear ambitions and a strong commitment, all countries will reach the common goal of developing their financial markets.

This event was the fourth one in the Meet the Market with FEAS event series. Previously, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Australia and Egypt introduced their markets in the event. 

The purpose of the initiative is to organize virtual Meetings/Roadshows for FEAS members’ markets to raise awareness about the market structures, operations, processes and benefits, and give the answer to the question “Why to invest in a specific country”? 

More than 100 participants have gathered for the one-day online event, coming from different parts of the world. Participants represented Stock Exchanges, Investment Banks, Brokerage Firms, International Corporations, Asset Managers, Funds as well as local Market Participants.

The presentations were followed by Q&A Session, during which the participants actively asked questions to the speakers. 

About FEAS

The Federation of Euro-Asian Stock Exchanges (FEAS) was established on 16 May 1995 with 12 founding members. The purpose of the Federation is to contribute to the cooperation, development, support and promotion of capital markets in the Euro-Asian Region (i.e. Europe, Asia and the Mediterranean Basin). Currently there are 39 members in FEAS.