Garanti among world’s largest 100 lenders

ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency

Turkey’s Garanti Bank is the world’s 41st largest bank out of 100 lenders, according to a report by the international credit rating company Standard & Poor’s (S&P).

Garanti was the only Turkish bank to be included in S&P’s largest 100 banks report, which was prepared via risk-adjusted capital methodology, a statement said.

The statement said Garanti’s powerful capital structure helped it enter the list. On Nov. 2, 2010, BBVA, Spain’s second largest bank, acquired a 24.9 percent stake in Garanti Bank for $5.8 billion.

Garanti provides retail, commercial, corporate and private banking services to 10 million customers. It operates 853 domestic branches; six foreign branches in Luxembourg, Malta and northern Cyprus; four international representative offices in Moscow, London, Düsseldorf, and Shanghai.

The financial magazine Euromoney picked Garanti Bank as the “Best Bank in Turkey” for 11th time in 2011. Garanti Bank was also recognized as the “Best Managed Company in Central and Eastern Europe” by Euromoney Institutional PLC, becoming the first Turkish Bank to receive the honor.