Hürriyet – Financial institutions from Europe, Far East, and the Middle East are keeping a close watch on Türkiye’s banking sector for investments, according to the international advisory and auditing firm, Deloitte.
“There is serious intention from lenders in the Middle East, Far East and Europe towards investing in Türkiye’s banking sector. A participation bank from the Gulf region is currently analysing the Turkish banking market while another is looking into providing housing and auto loans and may later seek to acquire a banking license in Türkiye.” said Yucel Ersoz, Consultant Partner of Deloitte Türkiye’s Financial Services Department.
“Some 5-6 banks are considering investing in Türkiye. Türkiye’s large scale infrastructure projects keep foreign investor interest in the country up as such opportunities do not exist in the West...” noted Hasan Kilic, Auditing Partner of DeloittAuditing Partner of Deloitte Türkiye.
Türkiye’s lucrative banking sector has been attracting large-scale foreign investments from lenders in Europe, the Middle East, and the Far East in recent years. Russia’s Sberbank acquired Denizbank last year for USD 3.6 billion while Spain’s Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) took a 25 percent stake in Türkiye’s largest lender, Garanti Bank, for USD 5.8 billion in 2011.
Lebanon’s Bank Audi, the first foreign lender to be issued a banking license in Türkiye for over 10 years, has opened its first branch in the country under the name of Odeabank last November. Other banking institutions from the Gulf such as Qatar’s Commercial Bank of Qatar, Kuwaiti Burgan, and Saudi National Commercial Bank are also active in Türkiye.
From farther corners of the world, three of Japan’s largest lenders, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU), Mizuho Corporate, and Sumitomo Mitsui also made their entry into the country last year. BTMU was granted a Turkish banking license while Mizuho Corporate and Sumitomo Mitsui both opened representative offices in Istanbul, Türkiye’s increasingly international financial hub.