The Iranian Securities and Exchange Organisation reportedly wants to take advantage of the impending end of international sanctions against its jurisdiction by setting up a market in mortgage-backed securities.

High-net-worth investors have been going on 'investor tours' to Iran recently and many of them have always been allowed to invest on its stock market - Europeans, for instance, have always been allowed to buy shares. With sanctions ending now that 'implementation day' (the date on which the International Atomic Energy Agency issues a report verifying that Iran has honoured its promises to curtail certain kinds of nuclear activity) has come and gone, more of this activity is expected, led by the more adventurous family offices and asset managers.

Into this heady mixture, Reuters reports that Iran's capital market regulator has published rules to govern the issuance and handling of mortgage-backed securities. Investment in Iran is not for the faint-hearted, however; guidance last year from the US Office of Foreign Assets Control states that whenever someone signs a contract with an Iranian he should include terms that make it plain that the deal is off if the Americans or Eurocrats or both reinstate sanctions.