BANKING - MIDEAST MONEY-Gulf banks eye European rivals' Middle East assets - Eyes on Turkish banks

www.reuters.com - DUBAI, June 20 (Reuters) - As struggling European banks scale back their worldwide operations, cash-rich Gulf lenders see a chance to expand by snapping up the Middle East assets of European rivals at attractive prices.
After years of building operations in the fast-growing Middle East and North Africa region, European lenders are shrinking back due to a crippling debt crisis at home and the need to raise capital to meet regulatory requirements.
Gulf banks are keen to seize an opportunity as profitable businesses from Turkey to Egypt have been put on the block by European banks at a time when valuations are near multi-year lows due to the volatility in financial markets. (source)

BANKING - Participation bank assets grow 29 percent last year

www.hurriyetdailynews.com -Participation banks’ presence is growing rapidly in Turkey, the Participation Association data show as the government prepares to supports the sector with sukuks
 
Participation banks’ assets grew 29 percent to 56.1 billion Turkish Liras last year, Fahrettin Yahşi outgoing chairman of the Participation Banks Association of Turkey (TKBB) said May25 at the association’s 11th general assembly. (source)

BANKING - Turkish banks eye their customers' $270b pot of gold

www.gulfnews.com - Istanbul: Turkish banks are seeking to boost the lowest savings rate among major emerging markets and allay a concern of credit rating companies by persuading customers to deposit gold.

Turks have about 5,000 tonnes of gold "stashed under their pillows", Ozcan Halac, the head of the Istanbul Gold Exchange, said in a Bloomberg interview on March 7. That's equivalent to $270 billion (Dh991.7 billion), or more than a third of Turkey's $772 billion economy.

 Akbank TAS, the lender part-owned by Citigroup Inc, said on April 5 it was offering a new gold deposit account to spur savings. (source)

EVENTS - IFSB SUMMIT - Turkey seeks market capitalism alternatives

www.saudigazette.com.sa - ISTANBUL — If you have any doubt that Islamic finance is creeping into the mainstream global financial system where it matters, albeit cautiously and perhaps in some instances even apologetically, then you should have been in Istanbul last week.

Perhaps Turkey may not be perceived as the natural bedfellow of the Islamic finance industry, but contrary to popular misconception, next year will be the 30th anniversary of the introduction of the special decree (No. 831/7506 of 16 December 1983 issued by the Council of Ministers) allowing the establishment of Special Finance Houses (the euphemism for interest-free Islamic banks).

Armed with the ambition of transforming Istanbul into a regional and international financial center (and no financial center these days can be complete without also offering an Islamic banking and investment proposition) and with the sovereign debt chaos emanating from the West European continent, Turkey like several other countries is seeking alternatives to the unbridled market capitalism responsible for the near meltdown. (source)

FINANCE - Participation Banks form a bridge for intestment

www.yenisafak.com.tr - Savings to finance domestic sources of financing development in Turkey, Emphasizing the importance of increasing the level of Deputy General Manager Retail Banking Finance Semih Alşar Turkey, "Participation banks, on behalf of a major bridge into savings instead of direct investment brings," he said
Participation Bridge to the investment banks
Assistant General Manager of Retail Banking Finance Semih Alşar Turkey, "Our country's economy development and financing of development can be financed with domestic resources to increase the level of savings on behalf of the utmost importance. Intertwined with the corporate sector to work at this point due to participation banks, savings on behalf of direct investment into fulfills an important bridge, "he said. (source)

BANKING - Noor Islamic Bank looking for license

www.dunya.com - Noor Islamic Bank in Turkey aimed at speeding up the flow of resources, commercial banking linsansı apply for.
 
Zeki Gündüz writings of tax considerations

ISTANBUL - Noor Islamic Bank plans to apply for a license for commercial banking in Turkey.
Hussey, CEO of the bank providing information to Reuters El Qemzi, Noor Islamic Bank since the beginning of 2011 until the source provides over $ 2 billion to Turkey, said they are aiming to provide a further $ 1 billion by year's end.
 
"Turkey is too high resource demand. Especially in the field of SMEs," said the CEO, "Bank of Islamic bonds (sukuk) is very active in syndications and structured finance," he said.  (source)

BANKING - Participation banks has grown 10 times in 8 years

www.dunya.com - ANKARA - "Islamic banking", "Interest-free banking" referred to with names such as, participation banks working on the basis of dividends rather than interest, noted the rapid growth of the last 8 years. Funds collected by the numbers 4 participation banks in Turkey, which is approximately 9 times in 8 years, kullandırdığı 12.8 times the volume of funds, assets have grown 10 times. Participation banks, the volume of total deposits in the banking sector, 5.7 percent, 6 percent of the credit volume, asset size reached a share of 4.6 percent.



"Interest-free banking", also known as participation banks working on the basis of dividend funds collected approximately 9 times the last eight years, kullandırdığı 12.8 times the volume of funds, assets have grown 10 times.

Participation Banks Association of Turkey (TKBB), Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BRSA) and the calculation made according to Central Bank data, a total of four participation banksassets grew by 29.6 percent in 2011 reached 56.1 billion pounds. The total size of the funds collected from the four participation banks increased by 19.2 percent last year, 39.9 billion, an increase of 28.9 percent of the volume of funds kullandırdığı was 41.5 billion pounds. Participation banks increased by 5.8 percent last year, the total profit was 803 million pounds. (source)

FINANCE - Baby Steps for Turkey and China - joint approach to Islamic finance/banking could be possible

www.majalla.com -Written by : Nima Khorrami Assl - Trading ties between the two countries improve but remain vulnerable

Only a few months after the Chinese President-in-waiting trip to Turkey, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit, the first of its kind in 27 years, is yet another tale of an extraordinary turn of events in the context of Sino-Turku relations which suffered a major setback in 2009.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao; Source: AFP

Today, Ankara and Beijing prefer to put their various differences to rest, and instead utilize their newly found economic and diplomatic might to advance their national interests in Africa, Central Asia, and the Middle East. In other words, China and Turkey have entered a new period of strategic cooperation, the foundation of which was set in stone during the official exchanges by the Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, in 2010. (source)

BANKING - 26 million do not have bank accounts in Turkey

www.hurriyetdailynews.com - The number of potential bank customers in Turkey will exceed those in England, France, Spain, Italy and Germany combined by 2020, according to Ergün Özen, chief executive of Garanti Bank.

Some 26 million adults in Turkey do not use banking services, he said, speaking at a meeting in Istanbul where he revealed the company’s first quarter financial results. “The number of small and medium size enterprises that use banking services will also increase. The banking industry will grow more quickly in provinces other than Istanbul, Ankara and İzmir. The loan penetration level will come close to those in developed countries.”  (source)

BANKING - Islamic participation banks earn $450 mln in profit in 2011

www.todayszaman.com - Participation banks, which refrain from being involved in financial activities deemed forbidden in Islamic teaching, increased their profit by 6 percent, to TL 850 million ($450 million), in 2011 compared to 2010.

According to a statement released by the Participation Banks Association (TKBB) on Monday, the financial institutions' assets and equity capital have also grown by 29 percent and 13 percent, respectively, year-on-year to TL 56 billion and TL 6.1 billion. Their assets were only TL 3.9 billion in 2003. (source)

BANKING - Becoming finance base a hard task for Istanbul - Celik (Bank Asya) predicts growth for participation banking

www.hurriyetdailynews.com - Professionals from Turkey’s biggest lenders, participating in the 1st Uludağ Economy Summit, expressed their support for Turkey’s bid to make Istanbul into a regional finance center, while saying that the task will not be an easy one.

While London tops the list of world finance centers, Istanbul remains at number 62 out of 75, said Faik Açıkalın, general manager of Yapı Kredi Bank, speaking at the summit, held in the northwestern province Bursa. Since the start of the economic crisis in 2008, many foreign investors and financial institutions have left Dubai, Açıkalın added. “This is a chance for Turkey.” However, according to Açıkalın, Turkey’s dream will not be easy to realize, due to Istanbul’s current performance compared to its competitors across the world. “Despite the crisis, the list of Europe’s Top 20 finance centers includes Athens, but Istanbul does not appear on the list. Seoul, Shanghai and Singapore are in the list of possible candidates as global finance centers, but Istanbul is not.”  (source)

BANKING - UAE’s NBAD eyes regional mandates - Turkey strategic market

www.kippreport.com - National Bank of Abu Dhabi, the largest lender by market value in the United Arab Emirates, is set to take on regional mandates to add to its home-market advantage, the head of the bank's debt capital markets team said.

The bank is pitching more aggressively for mandates in other Gulf Arab states, Fawaz Abu Sneineh told Reuters in an interview this week.  (source)

CAPITAL MARKETS - Istanbul Stock Exchange's CEO and chairman unveils plans to expand Shariahcompliant securities

www.euromoney.com - Ibrahim Turhan, newly appointed CEO of Istanbul Borsasi, talks exclusively to Euromoney about his plans to expand Shariah-compliant products
Ibrahim Turhan, the CEO and chairman of Istanbul’s stock exchange, exclusively met with Euromoney in Turkey and revealed ambitious plans to reform the Turkish capital markets.
However, his first action as chairman was more symbolic than practical: renaming the stock exchange.
The Istanbul Stock Exchange is now known as Istanbul Borsasi. This might seem a small change but it is significant to Turhan. (full story)

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)

BANKING - Construction takes lion's share of participation bank loans

Much extolled as the driving engine of a fast economic rebound in past years, Turkey's construction sector received the highest share of loans extended by participation banks in the country last year, the latest data indicate. (source)

BANKING - The winner was the participation banks

The volume of domestic credit in the banking sector at the end of November this year increased by 38.3 per cent over the same month of last year is estimated at 621.3 billion pounds.

ANKARA - Deposit banks' net profit this year by the end of October of last year decreased by 13 percent over the same period was 15 billion 122 million 891 thousand TL. Participation banks in the same period, net profit increased by 5.3 per cent reached 661 million 112 thousand TL.  (source)

MALAYSIA - BANKING - Malaysia unveils plan to boost (Islamic) bank sector

channelnewsasia.com - KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak Wednesday unveiled fresh plans to liberalise the country's financial sector in a bid to develop it as an international Islamic hub.

"The financial system will have a key role in spurring new areas of growth, and facilitating our economic transformation," he said in remarks contained in a report by Bank Negara.

Under the 10-year programme, the sector is expected to expand 11 percent annually between 2011 to 2020 and add another 56,000 jobs to the current 144,000.  (source)

REPORTS - Participation Banks Association Turkey - Sector as per 06-2010

Participation Banks Association - figures as per 06-2010

Source : Participation Banks Association Turkey