Three foreign lenders show strong interest in Turkey: Banking watchdog

ISTANBUL - Anadolu Agency

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Three foreign banks have voiced strong interest in Turkey and they are likely to enter Turkish markets in 2017, Mehmet Ali Akben, the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) head, has said. 

Akben said they were lenders from the Gulf region that had banking licenses in Turkey, such as the Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait, which recently opened a representative office in Turkey. 

He added that there also was an American financial group that had plans to enter the Turkish market. 

“There are now three foreign lenders that are showing strong interest in Turkish markets. This is of course a process. Yet we believe that they will likely become operational in Turkey in 2017.” 

He also encouraged lenders from Fareast Asia to voice interest in Turkish markets, where key Chinese banks are active. 

Akben also reminded that Turkey’s banking sector’s supervisory and regulatory arrangements are in compliance with European Union regulations, according to the European Commission.

The commission recently said Turkey has supervisory and regulatory arrangements in place which comply with a series of operational, organizational and supervisory standards reflecting the essential elements of the bloc’s supervisory and regulatory arrangements applicable to credit institutions.