CBI Dissolves Troubled Ayandeh Bank, Merges It into Bank Melli Iran

The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) said on Thursday it had dissolved the private Ayandeh Bank and merged it into Bank Melli Iran, in a move aimed at “strengthening transparency, financial health, and monetary stability.”

CBI Governor Mohammad Reza Farzin described Ayandeh as an “unhealthy bank” and “a symbol of inefficiency and imbalance in the country’s banking system,” saying that its continued operation would have inflicted “irreparable costs on the national economy,” IRNA reported.

Farzin added that despite multiple efforts, the private lender failed to align itself with the CBI’s reform agenda. He noted that all Ayandeh’s depositors would automatically become Bank Melli depositors as of Saturday, and “banking services will continue as before through Bank Melli branches.”

Ayandeh Bank had long faced serious financial and supervisory problems, including heavy accumulated losses, a capital adequacy ratio of minus 600%, large overdrafts from the CBI, and a significant volume of non-performing loans.

The bank’s accumulated losses reached around IRR 5,500 trillion (US$5 billion), and it was “practically a bankrupt institution.” Other sources said Ayandeh had overdrawn some IRR 3,130 trillion (US$2.85 billion) from the CBI in recent years.

Abbas Goudarzi, spokesman for the Iranian parliament’s presiding board, said the dissolution of Ayandeh “does not mark the end of action against the bank’s violators.” In remarks carried by Tasnim, Goudarzi added that all assets and properties obtained “through rent-seeking and illegal means” must be recovered, and there must be “decisive and legal action against those who misused public funds to gain illicit wealth.”

He also said the bank’s widespread violations had undermined public trust and damaged the credibility of regulatory institutions, while fueling “unhealthy competition” in Iran’s financial sector. Following the dissolution, Economy Minister Ali Madanizadeh announced that a lawsuit had been filed against Ayandeh’s main shareholder.

Ayandeh Bank, one of Iran’s most controversial private lenders, was established in 2012 through the merger of Tat Bank, Salehin Credit Institution, and Ati Credit Institution. It began operating officially in 2014 after receiving its license from the CBI. At the time of dissolution, Ayandeh had more than 276 branches nationwide. - Iran Daily