The six leaders of the Iranian banking and finance community are: Mahmoud Bahmani, Mahmoud Reza Khavari, Mohammad Jahromi, Peyman Noori Brojerdi, Ali Divandari and Ali Soleimani Shayesteh
Mahmoud Bahmani
Position: Governor, Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Biography: Mahmoud Bahmani was appointed governor of the Central Bank of Iran by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in September last year. His appointment took place shortly after a controversial move by the central bank to drive down inflation by raising the interest rate on deposits and thereby encouraging people to save rather than spend. On 28 February 2009, Bahmani criticised other central banks for injecting large volumes of cash into their currency supplies to fight the global recession, as he claimed it would drive up inflation. He has also been active in lobbying the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and in April last year, Bahmani was the representative for the group of developing countries known as the G24 at an IMF summit. Bahmani is continuing the drive, which began in 2007, to replace the remaining 15 per cent of Iran’s oil income that is paid in dollars with euros.
Contact: (+98) 212 9951
Mahmoud Reza Khavari
Position: Chairman, Bank Melli lran
Biography: Mahmoud Reza Khavari is chairman of the board and managing director of Bank Melli Iran, the Islamic republic’s largest bank. He was appointed by Iran’s Finance Minister, Shamseddin Hosseini, in April last year, replacing Ali Sedqi. Khavari was formerly the president of Bank Sepah, a UK-incorporated bank specialising in providing finance to Iran and the Gulf, and still serves as a board member and deputy managing director there. He is also the vice-chairman of the board of directors and deputy manager of Chadormalu Mining & Industrial Company, a Tehran-listed company that is Iran’s largest iron ore producer. He holds a master’s degree in law from Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran, and a Bachelor’s degree in law from Tehran University. Khavari is a lecturer in civil, commercial and banking law at the accounting faculty of the National Iranian Oil Company.
Contact: (+98) 2166 731388
Mohammad Jahromi
Position: Managing director, Saderat Bank of Iran
Biography: Mohammad Jahromi was appointed managing director of Saderat Bank of Iran in April last year. Jahromi previously served as Labour Minister, a position for which he came under criticism from workers’ unions for appointing too many aides on high salaries. Jahromi’s aides were dismissed by his government successor, Abdolreza Sheikhol-eslami. Hossein Sadeqi, deputy of provincial affairs for the Workers’ Union, led criticism of Jahromi’s appointment at Saderat Bank. Born in 1958 in Tehran, Jahromi has served as deputy chairman for executive affairs of the ultra-conservative Guardian Council. He was the founding member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps in Gilan and Mazandaran provinces in 1979 and has been governor of Zanjan (1982-84), Lorestan (1984-89) and Semnan (1984-99) provinces.
Contact: (+98) 883 07822
Peyman Noori Brojerdi
Position: Chairman, Bank Refah
Biography: Peyman Noori Brojerdi is chairman and managing director of Bank Refah. Brojerdi holds a master’s degree in commercial management in industry, and a doctorate in financial management and accounting from Tehran’s Islamic Azad University. He has used his academic background to create more than 300 in-house training programmes at institutions including Bank Melli, Saderat Bank of Iran, Refah Bank and Maskan Bank. Since 1999, he has served as a member of the board of the local Bank Maskan, supervising the financial, international treasury and exchange and IT departments. He is also chairman of the board of Maskan Investment Company. Brojerdi is a qualified accountant and a member of the Society of Official Accountants of Iran. Bank Refah is a retail commercial bank, founded in 1960 to provide basic banking services, including payment of salaries, to Iran’s workers.
Contact: (+98) 806 3794
Ali Divandari
Position: Managing director, Bank Mellat
Biography: Ali Divandari is chairman and managing director of Iran’s government-owned Bank Mellat, which he joined in 1998 as head of research and development. He was appointed to his current roles in 2006. Divandari has been an associate professor at Tehran University since 1993. In November last year, the US Treasury imposed sanctions against the Malaysian subsidiary of Bank Mellat, First East Export Bank, for allegedly facilitating the movement of millions of dollars to support Iran’s nuclear programme. At the same time, the US department imposed sanctions on Divandari, for acting on behalf of Bank Mellat. The move froze assets and banned Americans from doing business with both the bank and Divandari. In 2008, Divandari rejected reports that Iranian banks were withdrawing their funds from Europe in anticipation of tightening sanctions.
Contact: (+98) 218 2961
Ali Soleimani Shayesteh
Position: Managing director, Parsian Bank
Biography: Ali Soleimani Shayesteh was appointed managing director of Parsian Bank in 2002, the year that the bank was founded. He began his banking career at Saderat Bank in 1977, and became president and chairman of the board at Saderat bank in Hormozgan in 1987 until 1988. Shayesteh served as a board member in Saderat Bank from 1989 to 1996. He is a board member of several companies, including Iran Investment & Finance, Sakhteman Investment, Melli Iran Investment and Baghmisheh Construction. He was chairman of the board of directors in the local Pasargad Bank Investment Company in 2005. Shayesteh has a bachelor’s degree in economics from Allameh Tabatabayee University in Tehran. He holds a master’s degree in banking from the Iran Banking Institute. Parsian Bank was founded to improve the Islamic Republic’s industrial activities.
Contact: (+98) 8836 2600
- Next week - Morocco/industry
You might also like...
Oman receives Madha industrial city tender prices
19 April 2024
Neom seeks to raise funds in $1.3bn sukuk sale
19 April 2024
Saudi firm advances Neutral Zone real estate plans
19 April 2024
Algeria signs oil deal with Swedish company
19 April 2024
A MEED Subscription...
Subscribe or upgrade your current MEED.com package to support your strategic planning with the MENA region’s best source of business information. Proceed to our online shop below to find out more about the features in each package.
