Reiffel suggests that World Bank moves to Istanbul Speaking at the 2nd World Political Forum in Istanbul yesterday, Lex Rieffel of the Brooking Institution stated that either the IMF or the World Bank should be moved from Washington. Rieffel said that it would be better to move the World Bank to Turkey, which might be the most appropriate location.  Rieffel stated that these two headquarters should be separ ...

Turkey’s Capital Markets Board (SPK) has released its 2011 annual report. Accordingly, the size of the capital markets is roughly 381 billion Turkish Liras. Of the audits, 32.6 percent were public companies, 25.7 percent were brokerages and 16 percent were cheaters. Public companies were audited mostly for camouflaging their earnings. The Head of the Capital Markets Board Vedat Akgiray said that in the rece ...

OVERVIEW Recently, the measures taken to overcome the crisis in Euro Area, which is cited as the main threat to  global economic outlook, and the major central banks’ leaning towards monetary easing to support growth stimulated the capital inflows to emerging market economies. Central Bank of Turkey narrowed the interest rate corridor by decreasing the O/N lending rate. CBRT cited the Fed’s, ECB’s and some ...

Down below is an interesting interview with Tevfik Bilginwho is one of the most influential of those who shape the Turkish economy is Tevfik Bilgin, the head of the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BRSA). The interview is made by Capital magazine (Editor, BTT ). THOSE WHO WORK BASLY SHOULD BE REPRIMANDED He played an important role in the measures that lay behind the creation of the current health ...

International credit rating agency Moody's has said Turkey's economic strength was moderate to high in the sovereign rating spectrum. Moody's said in a press release on Thursday that the Turkish government's debt was rated Ba2, reflecting the resilience of the public finances during the global crisis in spite of a short but deep recession. "Turkey's economic strength is moderate to high in the sovereign rat ...

Turkey is planning ways to attract mattress savings to banks, in order to increase the country’s low domestic saving ratio, the governor of the Central Bank said yesterday, emphasizing that the bank was aiming to strengthen to its reserves by raising its gold reserve ratio. “We are increasing the quality of the reserves by increasing our gold reserves,” said Erdem Başçı, speaking at the Gold and Jewelry Sum ...

To comply with several positive indicators regarding econony in Turkey, unemployment rate dropped 1.6 points year-on-year to 9.8percent in December 2011 as announced by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat). In spite of the recession still in effect in several European countries Turkey has managed  to improve its unemployment figures. Accordinglyrate of joblessness in urban areas has dropped 2 points ...

Turkish banking sector has gone through some rough times in the last couple of decades and in fact many establishments have gone bankrupt. Among those banks that have experienced a strong competition and unfavorable economic trends, Finansbank has been able to survive under the efficient and expertise administration of Mr. Hüsnü ÖZYEĞİN, the founder of the company. Mr. Özyeğin is a living legend in the sect ...

İşbank is looking to acquire Egyptian unit of Piraeus Bank, one of the largest private Greek bank as part of its strategy to look for new opportunities in the region. Işbank is also looking towards the Balkans and Iraq İşbank, one of Turkey’s leading banking and financial groups, is looking to acquire a bank in Egypt as part of its expansion strategy in the surrounding countries and region, according to dai ...

Bank Audi, which is set to launch its Turkey unit, may be followed by more Arab banks, says Fattouh, Arab banking union head. Turkey is ‘one of the best places’ for banks to operate as crisis holds on in US and EU, he adds UAB head Fattauh (L), TMSF head Tevfik Bilgin (2nd L), Deputy PM Babacan (C), the Banks Association of Turkey head Aydın (2nd R) and UAB board member Chaibainou (R) pose during an Istanbu ...

A GENERAL LOOK : Despite the continued downward risks to world economy, global markets started the new year with a positive sentiment. The impacts of the favorable developments in global financial markets were also effective  on the domestic markets. ISE-100 index increased  around 15% from its lowest level in January when the index declined below 50.000 threshold. During this period, TL appreciated against ...

Austrians look to invest in Turkey Austrian investors are shifting their investment activities to Turkey – especially the energy sector – because of the economic crisis in Europe, Austria’s commercial counselor for Turkey has said. “Turkey’s economic performance and stance show that the country has chosen the right path. This in turn strengthens the relations between our countries and Austrian investors are ...

Number of newly formed businesses in January down 12.13 p.c. The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) has announced on Friday that the number of newly formed businesses in January, 2012 was down 12.13 percent when compared to the same month a year ago. ANKARA- TOBB said that the number of businesses that were permanently shut down went up 12.57 percent in January, 2012 when compared to ...

Akbank took the top spot among Turkish banks and was ranked 96th out of the world’s top 500 bank brands in a recent study by Brand Finance. Turkey’s Akbank was ranked number 96 out of the world’s 500 most valuable bank brands, according to a study released by Brand Finance, which compares and ranks global brands. Akbank was ranked the top bank in Turkey and seven other Turkish banks were included in the lis ...

Renaissance Asset Managers, which focuses on emerging Europe, Russia and Africa, announced Jan. 26 the acquisition of the investment management mandate for two funds from Griffin Umbrella Fund. The two funds command assets totaling $116 million. Following the transaction, assets under Renaissance’s management will rise from $2.4 billion to $2.8 billion, according to a press statement. The first fund, named ...

Garanti Bank is Turkey's top lender, most profitable and world's 53rd most valuable bank. It has around 400 products, more than 17,000 employees, 808 domestic branches and nearly 3,000 ATMs. Garanti is Turkey's second largest private bank in terms of its asset size. The bank has increased its asset size, loans and deposits by three fold in the last 5 years. Its asset size is TL 118.7 billion. Garanti has a ...

Akbank is among Turkey's most valuable brands. It is Turkey's most valuable company with a US$ 24.3 billion of market value. Its consolidated assets are worth USD 71.8 billion. It has 912 branches and approximately 15,000 employees. With a 62 year history, Akbank is known as one of the leading financial institutions in Turkey as well as Europe. It is a listed company and bank at Istanbul Stock Exchange (IMK ...

Turkey will carry out an estimated $5 billion road project that includes building a third bridge over the Bosphorus Strait between Europe and Asia with its own resources after cancelling a tender due to the lack of bids, its transport minister said. State-run Anatolian news agency reported Transport Minister Binali YILDIRIM as saying on Sunday that a tender for the North Marmara Highway project would be iss ...

Isbank which ranks within first 100 among 1,000 largest banks in the world was established as the first national private bank of the Turkish Republic. According to June 2010 reports Isbank is the country's leading private bank in terms of size of assets, credits and deposits. The asset size of Isbank is TL 124 billion. The bank has a credit volume of  TL 57 billion and deposit volume of TL 80 billion. Isban ...

Turkey ranks 73 out of 184 countries in terms of economic freedom, way below many developed countries, according to a Heritage Foundation and Wall Street index New buildings rise in Istanbul’s Ataşehir on the Asian side, where the government is planning to found a finance center. Turkey lags in economic freedom, a recent study says.While Turkey dreams of being among the world’s top 10 financial centers by 2 ...

Central Bank Gov Başçı declares strong commitment to the lira, claiming the currency will be among those rising most this year. Turkey can attract foreign financing as investors are in search for safe havens, he says The Turkish Lira will be one of the currencies appreciating most in the world this year, according to Central Bank Gov. Erdem Başçı. “Those who invest in the lira will always gain in 2012. The ...

Currency wars are spreading throughout the region as Turkey’s Central Bank intervened for a fourthday in the currency markets yesterday amid similar moves by Iran and news that the Hungarian Forintplummeted to a new low. Turkey’s Central Bank continued its direct intervention on the currency market for a fourth trading day in a row yesterday, in addition to a $100 million sale in a daily auction. According ...

Turkey is considered to have one of the best developing economies in the world recently. Istanbul on the other hand has grown to be one of the giant metropoles in Europe – and the world. A great majority of industrial and economic activities that take place in Turkey are in Istanbul and thus this megapole is called the economic and business capital of Turkey. The Turkish government which has shown a very br ...