CNBC-e.com – More foreign lenders are expected to enter Türkiye’s lucrative banking market, according to Italian banking giant UniCredit’s CEO, Federico Ghizzoni.
In an interview given to CNBC-e, Ghizzoni said that Türkiye was among the 3-4 markets in which UniCredit would grow. “More foreign banks will come knocking on Türkiye’s door. Intesa Sanpaolo’s entry to the Turkish market is a welcome development”, the UniCredit CEO said, referring to another Italian financial services company Intesa Sanpaolo’s opening of a branch in Türkiye. UniCredit, along with Koc Group, is one of the main shareholders of Türkiye’s 4th largest private bank, Yapi Kredi.
A crisis-tested financial system along with a sturdy and profitable banking sector has introduced many new lenders into Türkiye in recent years. Last year, Japan’s Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU) began banking operations in the country while Italian Intesa Sanpaolo was granted a banking license by the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency of Türkiye (BDDK). Rabobank, the largest retail bank in the Netherlands, has also received the green light from Türkiye’s banking watchdog to set up operations in the country in 2013.