BANKING - Sanction-hit Iranian banks line up to enter Turkish financial market

www.todayszaman.com - Iranian investors, who established a record number of companies in Turkey last year, have shifted their focus to the finance and banking sector as Western sanctions implemented because of its controversial nuclear program have eaten away at its economic maneuverability.

 

According to information Today's Zaman obtained from Ankara financial circles, Iran's three biggest banks have started to work in order to become the newest actors in the Turkish banking sector. Tejarat Bank, Pasargad Bank and another bank, whose name was not disclosed, have knocked on the door of the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) recently. The financial sources, which preferred to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the matter, said a written request has already been sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to apply for a banking license from scratch. The government will make the final decision regarding this issue.  (source)

TRADE - OIC - Turkey welcomes large number of Iranian firms

www.hurriyetdailynews.com - The number of Iranian firms established in Turkey registered a record increase last year, according to Anatolia news agency.

Some 590 Iranian firms were established while the number of Iranian joint ventures hit a total of 2,140. Iran was also the number-one country in terms of the increase in the number of firms in Turkey, hitting 41 percent in 2011. (source)

FINANCE - OIC - Turkey's Halkbank to handle Iran payments so long as legal

www.todayszaman.com - Turkish lender Halkbank will continue to handle customers' oil payments to Iran as long as they comply with international regulations, the bank's general manager said in the wake of fresh, unilateral US and EU sanctions.

Halkbank's dealings with Iran drew attention last year when Indian refiners disclosed they were channeling oil payments through the Turkish bank as their own central bank had shut its payment facility, fearing US retribution.

Majority state-owned Halkbank is Turkey's sixth largest bank, based on unconsolidated assets, and has a representative office in Tehran. (source)

FINANCE - OIC - Turkey to follow only UN sanctions against Iran

www.worldbulletin.net - Turkey’s largest oil refinery in Tüpraş relies on Iranian crude oil, and has been refreshing agreements with Iran for decades.  - Diplomatic sources have announced that Ankara will not be affected by the new set of sanctions on Iran, announced by the EU to cut all imports of Iranian crude oil to the EU bloc, on the grounds that Turkey will follow only UN-led sanctions.

“Turkey in principle feels bound only by UN Security Council sanctions against third countries,” diplomatic sources told Cihan on Monday, shortly after the EU governments agreed that they would ban all new contracts to purchase oil from Tehran. (source)

FINANCE - TRADE - Turkey, Iran Agree To Raise Bilateral Trade To $30 Billion

www.rttnews.com - Turkey seeks to double bilateral trade with neighboring Iran to $30 billion by 2015, a move aimed at strengthening ties with the Islamic Republic despite the new round of Western sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear defiance.

"Iran and Turkey's relations saw a 70 percent rise in 2011 and I hope that new steps will be taken within the framework of the Joint Commission to help increase the trade volume to $30 billion in 2015," Turkey's Environment and Urban Planning Minister Erdogan Bayraktar told a joint economic meeting held in capital Ankara on Thursday. (source)

FINANCE - Turkey, Iran eye closer financial transfers

Turkey and Iran said on Thursday they want to increase financial transfers between the two countries and double bilateral trade by 2015, a move likely to trouble Western powers trying to squeeze Tehran with sanctions over its nuclear programme.     

Washington, which has approved a fresh set of sanctions targeting financial institutions that deal with Iran's central bank to stem the flow of oil revenues, has warned regional ally Turkey that banks which do business with Iranian entities run the risk of being frozen out of the US financial system.     (source)

FINANCE - Turkey says not bound by US sanctions against Iran

Turkey, a US ally that relies on Iranian oil and gas imports, signaled Thursday it will not comply with American sanctions against Iran regarding its nuclear program.

Turkey indicated that it will only enforce sanctions that have been approved by the United Nations, and its announcement is a setback to US sanctions aimed at halting what Western governments say is Iran's effort to develop nuclear weapons. (source)

BANKING - Turkey's Halkbank says not received call to halt Iran deals

Jan 11 (Reuters) - Turkey's Halkbank has received no official request to stop handling payments to Iran for oil transactions but is studying U.S. moves to choke off the Islamic Republic's revenue, Turkish daily Vatan reported on Wednesday, citing its general manager.

On Dec. 31, President Barack Obama signed into law a fresh set of sanctions targeting financial institutions that deal with Iran's central bank to stem the flow of oil revenue and persuade Tehran to abandon a suspected nuclear weapons programme. (source)

BANKING - Iran dealings put Turkey's Halkbank in spotlight

ISTANBUL, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Turkish lender Halkbank , little known outside Turkey, has gained a reputation in the oil market over the past 18 months for handling transactions that other banks fear to touch - trade deals with Iran.

Now a new law signed by President Barack Obama last Saturday, which imposes U.S. sanctions on financial institutions dealing with Iran's central bank, has put the bank squarely in the spotlight. (source)

BANKING - Iranian Bank's Record Profit In Turkey

Bank Mellat showed the biggest increase in profits among all banks active in Turkey over the first six months of the year, even amid sanctions against Iranian financial institutions, Star newspaper reported, Bloomberg wrote.
Bank Mellat reported profits in Turkey of 32.6 million liras ($18.5 million) in the first half, a 217 percent increase over last year's figure for the same period of 10.3 million and the biggest increase among banks in Turkey.  (source)

FINANCE - Local lender mediates for Indian debt to Iran

The debt crisis between Iran and India, which was caused by the US sanctions on the Islamic republic, has been resolved by the support of Turkey’s state-run Halkbank, the lender’s executives confirm. Separate reports by the Iranian media say that Turkey, Iran and Iraq have reached a consensus to found a joint bank based in Tehran.  (source)

GENERAL - Turkey's PM tells businessmen to boost Iran trade

ISTANBUL, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Turkey wants to triple its trade volume with Iran within five years, Turkey's prime minister told businessmen on Thursday, at a time when sanctions are scaring off Western investors from the Islamic Republic.

GENERAL - Transatlantic survey shows Turks choosing to cooperate with Mideast

According to the 2010 Transatlantic Trends public opinion survey released yesterday by the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF), the percentage of Turks who said Turkey should act in closest cooperation with countries in the Middle East on international matters has doubled to 20 percent from 2009 figures. Furthermore, the majority of Turks were not concerned about Iran acquiring nuclear weapons, in sharp contrast with the European Union and the United States respondents, who were concerned.