Ziraat receives bank license in Azerbaijan

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

Ziraat Bank has received a banking license to operate in the Azerbaijani market. Baku has been in efforts to restructure its banking sector.

The Turkish state-run Ziraat Bank has been granted a banking license by the Central Bank of Azerbaijan, marking its entrance into the lucrative market.

The banking sector in Azerbaijan experienced high growth rates in 2013, according to a report released by the World Bank in October 2014.

However, Azerbaijan’s financial penetration indicator remains one of the lowest in Europe and Central Asia, the report said, and this offers a clear market opportunity for Ziraat Bank.

The Turkish bank employs more than 24,000 people in 1700 branches. There are 57 branches in foreign countries such as Germany, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kazakhstan, Russia, the U.K., the U.S., Georgia, Bulgaria and Greece.

Separately, on Oct.15 of this year, Ziraat Bank received permission from the Turkish banking regulator to establish a bank working on Islamic financial principles.

The Central Bank of Azerbaijan is continuing its reform of the sector, recently introducing a new legal and regulatory framework for consumer protection and financial literacy, as well as risk-based supervision, according to the World Bank report.