- The Securities & Exchange Council is the highest authority and is responsible for all related policies, market strategies, and supervision of the market. The Chairman of the Council will be the Minister of Economics; other members are: Minister of Trades, Governor of the Central Bank of Iran, Managing Director of the Chamber of Commerce, Attorney General, Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Organization, representatives of the active market associations, three financial experts requested by the Economics Minister and approved by the Council of Ministers, and one representative for each commodity exchange.
- The Securities and Exchange Organization (SEO) are responsible for administration and supervisory duties, governed by the Board of Directors. The SEO’s Board of Directors are elected by the Securities and Exchange Council.
The concept of a stock industrialization dates back to 1936 in Iran with the largest and oldest bank in Iran, Bank Melli together with Belgian experts wrote a report detailing the prospects of having an operational stock exchange in Iran. Outbreak of the World War II and other political factors delayed the implementation process until 1967 where the Government revisited the issue and ratified the "Stock Exchange Act". Consequently a small exchange, the Tehran Stock Exchange (the "TSE") began its operations in 1967. What followed was an initial trading in corporate and government bonds. The economic boom in the 1970s led to a pent-up demand for equity. Meanwhile, certain forces were changing the economic backdrop in Iran. The Government was actively involved in grant of shares to employees for large state-owned and family-owned enterprises. Market activity was reaching a frenzy with many companies and high net worth individuals vying to participate in the new found wealth associated with the TSE.
Everything came to a stand still after the Islamic Revolution leading in a prohibition against interest-based activities and nationalization of major banks and industrial giants. Mobilization of all resources towards the war effort during the 8-year Iran-Iraq war did not help matters. However, the Government fully embraced economic reforms and a privatization initiative in 1989 with a surge of activity in share activity of many state-owned companies through the defined targets in the first "Five-Year Economic Reform" where the Government together with the Parliament defined the economic prospects of the country for the coming five years. Attention to promotion of the private sector and new interest in the TSE brought life back to the market. However, lack of regulation and out-of-date legal framework led to crisis in the market leading to certain "meltdowns" until today. The market has experienced its share of highs and lows in the past years including topping the World Federation of Exchanges' list in terms of performance in 2004 to tumbling down to last place in 2007 due to political uncertainties in the region.
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