Why does the government want to hand over 65% of Bank Refah’s shares?

According to Iran Economist, Currently, all the banks that are present in the stock market and the government is a shareholder in them, have a percentage of floating shares below 36%. This is despite the fact that banks such as Maskan, Export Development and Sepeh have 100% of their shares in the hands of the government. Now, in such a situation, the government plans to sell more than 65% of the shares of Refah Karkaran Bank in the stock market.

If this happens, the ownership and management of Refah Bank will be lost from the social security organization, which can have irreparable consequences. On the other hand, due to the size of Refah Bank’s shares, this share offering will swallow a lot of liquidity from the stock market, which, considering the current state of the stock market, will cause dissatisfaction among the shareholders of the capital market. Now, we will continue to examine the state of shares of banks in which the government has a share and their floating percentage.

Refah Bank

First, let’s talk about Refah Bank itself. This bank is the only one whose symbol is included in the orange board of the exchange and has not yet made a transaction in the stock market. At the same time, it should be pointed out why they included the symbol of Refah Bank in the base market, which is itself an ambiguous issue. But currently, the Social Security Organization owns Refah Bank through itself and its subsidiaries. On the other hand, the total number of shares of Refah Bank is more than 193 billion shares.

Table No. 1- Major shareholders of Refah Kargaran Bank

Saderat bank

Bank Saderat currently has more than 175 billion shares in the stock market, of which 36% are floating and traded in the stock market in some way, but more than 64% are with the government and other shareholders. It is major and practically the management and ownership of the bank is still in the hands of the government.

Table No. 2- Major shareholders of Saderat Bank

Mellat Bank

Bank Mellat is another bank in which the government is a shareholder. The total number of tradable shares of Bank Mellat is more than 262 billion shares, 34% of which are floating. Due to this combination, the government still has indirect ownership in Bank Mellat and can appoint a manager in it.

Table No. 3- Major shareholders of Bank Mellat

Tejarat Bank

Bank Tejarat is another bank in which the government is a shareholder. The total number of tradable shares of this bank is more than 223 billion shares, 35% of which are floating, and the government can somehow manage this way.

Table No. 4- Major shareholders of Tejarat Bank

Parsian Bank

Parsian Bank, which is said to be one of the private banks, but due to Iran Khodro’s extensive shareholding in it, it is considered to be affiliated to this company. On the other hand, the total number of shares of this bank is 156 billion, of which only 16% is floating.

Table No. 5- Major shareholders of Bank Parsian

City Bank

City Bank also that learned It belongs to Tehran Municipality, but other metropolitan municipalities are also shareholders in it, only 22% of its 15 billion shares are floated. This is a very important point, considering the ownership of Shahr Bank, it seems that the Social Security Organization also reserves the right to keep Refah Bank under its control.

Table No. 6- Major shareholders of Shahr Bank

Sina Bank

Bank Sina, which is another state-owned bank, more than half of which belongs to the Foundation of the Underprivileged of the Islamic Revolution, has only 25% of the float of more than 25 billion shares of Bank Sina, which is of great importance.

Table No. 7- Major shareholders of Bank Sina

Bank D

Bank D is another state-owned bank that is somehow affiliated with the Martyrs and Veterans’ Affairs Foundation. The total shares of Bank D amount to 135 billion shares, but the float percentage of this bank is not listed on the stock exchange website.

Table No. 8- Major shareholders of Bank D

Post Bank

Post Bank, half of whose shares belong to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance, has more than 16 billion shares, of which only 27% is floating. Considering the ownership of this bank by the Ministry of Economy, even with this low float, it must be said why there is a sudden intention to transfer 65% of the shares of Refah Karkaran Bank; Because such an action has not been taken in the case of other state banks.

Table No. 9- Major shareholders of Post Bank

Considering that the float percentage of many state-owned banks is below four percent, practically the control of the bank remains in the hands of the government. Now we have to see what is the argument of the members of parliament that they have approved the transfer of major shares of Refah Bank, about 65% of the shares, and they insist on its implementation. This is despite the fact that the labor and retirement community, which are covered by the social security organization, are all against this handover and considered it detrimental to the people covered by social security, and they believe that with this action, there is a possibility of disrupting the service of this fund to its members. to be