FINANCE - İstanbul’s bid to become IFC looks cloudy as progress continues to delay

www.todayszaman.com - The hope that İstanbul will become an international financial center (IFC) in the near future has been disappearing as progress on the project has been slow in many respects.

 

The long-overdue project has been talked about for years by many politicians and has remained music to the ears of society. In 2007, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government set about developing İstanbul into an IFC as one of its major long-term economic goals. Steps taken by the current ruling party has many ordinary citizens believing it would be accomplished; however, some experts argue that the achievement of such a goal in the near future is a dream due to a lack of necessary policies and regulations. (source)

BANKING - Is Turkey’s Central Bank Moving? Document Suggests It Could Be

blogs.wsj.com - ISTANBUL — It’s something of an open secret in Turkey that the government has been seriously considering moving the central bank from Ankara to Istanbul, but the small print of a government document this week suggests the move could come sooner than previously thought.
The transfer of operations would be part of a broader project to boost the profile of Istanbul, already the country’s commercial capital, as an international financial center. (source)

BANKING - The project to turn Turkey’s megacity into an international finance center is coming to fruition

www.balkans.com - Zaman - The project to turn Turkey’s megacity into an international finance center is coming to fruition as the planning phase gives way to construction. Within the framework devised by the Turkish government, the Istanbul Financial Center (IFC) project will house the head offices of the country’s governing bodies of financial markets, state-owned banks and related businesses.  (source)