Bank of China completes application for banking license in Turkey: Watchdog

ISTANBUL - Anadolu Agency

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Bank of China has completed its application to receive a banking license in Turkey after submitting the required documents, according to the head of the country’s banking watchdog. 

The head of Turkey’s Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK), Mehmet Ali Akben, said the required letters have been exchanged with Chinese officials and the licensing work will begin as soon as this process is finalized. 

“Of course, it will take some time for them to find a building or launch IT technologies, but I must say that their application process is completed,” he said. 

Bank of China, one of the world’s biggest lenders, started its attempts to enter the Turkish market last year. 

In this vein, officials from the BDDK and Bank of China executives, including Akben and Bank of China Vice President Gao Ying Xin, met on Sept. 10, 2015, to discuss the plan’s legal formalities. 


Finansbank sale to QNB approved

Akben also said the sale of the majority stakes of Finansbank to Qatar National Bank (QNB) was approved. 

He noted the decision would be released on the Official Gazette in the next couple of days. 

QNB, the Gulf Arab region’s largest bank, agreed to buy Turkey’s Finansbank from the National Bank of Greece (NBG) for 2.7 billion euros ($2.95 billion), in December 2015.