Bloomberg News reported: "As investment rules change, foreign investors bought three times as many shares in Iran’s publicly traded companies."

According to the International Economy Service of Fars News Club "Tavana", quoting Bloomberg, "Foreigners bought three times as many shares in Iran’s publicly traded companies in the past six months as they did a year earlier after the authorities changed the rules to attract international investors."

Foreigners invested $250 million in Iranian stocks since March 21, the beginning of the Iranian year, after investing $140 million in all of the preceding 12 months, Hassan Ghalibaf- Asl, the TSE’s president said in an interview in Paris after attending the annual meeting of the World Federation of Exchanges.

TSE as the Third Fastest-Growing Market in the World

TSE’s benchmark index, the Tepix, has surged 63 percent year-to-date, making it the third fastest-growing primary index in the world, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. In April 2010, Iran introduced regulations to attract foreign investors. The rule changes enabled investors to repatriate their capital without any time restrictions. Under the previous rules, foreigners had to leave the principal of their investments in shares for three years.

Removing obstacles from the path of foreign investors

“Now there is no such limit,” Ghalibaf-Asl said. “A foreign investor was not allowed to buy more than 10 percent of a company’s shares. This has now increased to 20 percent.”

According to Ali Sanginian, TSE vice president for research and business development, the new rules force the authorities to exchange foreigners’ shareholdings in Iranian Rials whenever they want. “The Central Bank is, by law, obliged to exchange investors Rials whenever they need to repatriate their money,” he said.

Foreign investors’ money is guaranteed and insured against nationalization and revolutions, Sanginian said.

Irans $82.4 billion Stock Market

 According to data compiled by Bloomberg, the TSE lists 338 companies (with a total value of 860 trillion Iranian rials equal to $82.4 billion).

According to Fars News Agency, 7-month reports show that the countrys stock market has spent one of its best periods and it is one of the primary choices to invest. 

The statistic performance for last 7 months of the Stock Market indicates that, during this period, the total index in market helped to distribute a profit of approximately 10 thousand billion Iranian Tomans of 220 companies involved. Thus  in the annual assembly, this motion develops into a success for a figure of 12 thousand and 536 units in the Stock Market billboard in earlier this year to 18 thousand and 229 units by end of 0ct 2010.