Hassan Qalibaf Asl, chair of the TSE, has told Iranian media that the WFE has in a letter approved TSE’s membership, noting that the Iranian market will join the world body after the Securities and Exchange Organization of Iran (SEO), gains its rightful place within the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).

SEO is Iran’s regulatory body that supervises and develops the domestic capital market while IOSCO is an association of organizations that regulates the world’s securities and futures markets. The WFE, aka the International Federation of Stock Exchanges, is the trade association of 64 publicly regulated stock, futures, and options exchanges.

Qalibaf Asl said the move allows for the Iranian capital market entry into the global network of stock exchanges and access to information of those markets. This way, noted the official, international investors can observe and match other market indices with the Iranian ones and would see the Iranian counterpart as a competitor.

The official added that TSE’s integration into the WFE will provide an opportunity for the Iranian market to develop and promote its global status through participation in international capital market conventions and work groups.

The Tehran Stock Exchange was established in 1967. Currently, more than 700 companies with a combined market capitalization of over 170 billion dollars are reportedly listed on the TSE.

TSE, which is among the five biggest markets in the Middle East, is considered as one of the world’s best performing stock exchanges.

The market has surged over 20% since the implementation of a nuclear deal on January 17 when TSE ended the day at about 65,000 points, even as global stock markets have tumbled.

Despite a decline in the past two years, its overall index has been steadily going up recently.

All investors at the TSE are required by law to have a broker. Before Iran’s nuclear agreement that prompted sanctions relief earlier this year, the Tehran Stock Exchange had been in free-fall, but soon the trend reversed.

In an address to a joint meeting of the Administration and the Parliament, held in Tehran on Sunday night, July 3, President Rouhani said Iran’s banking system is suffering from two main problems: high interest rates on the loans and their weak capabilities.

To fix those problems, the President added, the administration’s economic headquarters has prepared a bill that will be unveiled in the coming days.

“If the bill is passed [by the lawmakers], we will witness a major evolution in the country’s banking sector,” he noted.

Elsewhere in his comments, the president touched upon the controversial issue of ‘astronomical salaries’, blaming certain organizations for their failure to control and handle the issue with necessary and timely caution.

He also underlined that the administration has begun measures to address the case and will press ahead to fix the problems in relation to inflated salaries.

His comments came after Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on Saturday ordered decisive reaction by all Iranian organizations to cases of exorbitant, unconventional wages, and called for unrelenting punitive action on breaking regulations.

Over the past weeks, cases of very high salaries earned by some senior managers have attracted a great deal of media attention and had a negative impact on public sentiment.

Ayatollah Khamenei had already called for firm action to halt payment of such salaries and punish the wrongdoers.