TEHRAN, Iran — Fam-Bank, a company in charge of selling excess properties held by Iranian banks, was set to hold a major public auction March 8. However, the auction was delayed for unannounced reasons. No specific date has so far been announced for the auction, which was to involve over 500 plots and buildings with a combined valuation of 26 trillion rials ($861 million). The auction is the 11th of its kind since Fam-Bank was jointly established by the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance in 2008.
Fam-Bank managing director Hassan Yamani says his company has sold 5.5 trillion rials ($182.1 million) worth of properties held by banks since its founding — a sum that is far too little to shore up the lumbering banking industry. Yamani blames this on the lack of cooperation of certain banks, namely Mellat and Maskan.
