Bank Asya mandates Goldman for strategic partnership


Date posted: June 11, 2014

ISTANBUL

Bank Asya said on Wednesday it has mandated Goldman Sachs as its financial advisor for a strategic partnership, without providing further details.

The Islamic lender made the announcement in a filing with the İstanbul stock exchange. Bank Asya shares traded on the Borsa İstanbul (BIST) were down 3.5 percent on Wednesday.

In March, the Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) said it had entered into exclusive talks to buy a stake in Bank Asya without giving further details except to say it hoped to conclude the deal within the next few months.

Bank Asya also said last week it mandated its management to possibly sell its subsidiaries.

The bank was earlier targeted by government officials who claim alleged irregularities in the bank. The government has however failed to prove these allegations.

In January, Interior Minister Efkan Ala claimed on a state-run Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) TV program, without naming names, that he had “solid evidence” that a bank had bought up dollars from the market a few days before police raids on a Dec. 17 corruption and bribery investigation, and made a profit of over $2 billion when the price of the dollar hiked after the inquest.

Ala’s remarks were widely interpreted as a reference to Bank Asya, affiliated with the Hizmet movement, which is inspired by respected Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen. The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government has tried to make the Hizmet movement the scapegoat via conspiracy theories to evade attention stemming from the corruption allegations.

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Sinan Aygün had earlier submitted a question addressed to Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan in Parliament, asking if Ala’s statements were true.

Responding to claims on Tuesday in a written statement, Babacan said: “$750 million was sold by the central bank during the period of Dec. 7-17, 2013 in transactions with 23 market participant banks, and $4 billion was sold from Dec. 17-31, 2013 in transactions with 24 market participant banks. The central bank conducts foreign currency transactions only with market participant banks, not with private persons, firms or companies.”

Babacan did not give any details of the transactions and banks in the mentioned period as they are deemed confidential according to the Banking Law.

Source: Cihan , June 11, 2014

Tags: | | |


Related News

African firms signal increased trade at TUSKON meeting

A total of 127 companies from 11 different countries in East Africa are participating in the Gaziantep summit, which started on Feb. 9 and will run until Feb. 12. The Turkish and African businesspeople held roughly 5,000 bilateral business meetings. TUSKON has intensified efforts to help more Turkish firms branch out into promising African markets over the past five years.

Written Evidence to UK Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee on Hizmet

The Alliance for Shared Values of the US & The Dialogue Platform of the UK have prepared a report on “UK’s relations with Turkey” that focuses on the Hizmet Movement. The report may be downloaded, disseminated for free and even printed. Representatives from these organizations were personally invited to submit written evidence by the Committee to explain Hizmet and provide Hizmet’s response to the AKP government’s allegations against Fethullah Gülen and the Hizmet movement.

GYV expresses concern over claims of government profiling of its citizens

The Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV), whose honorary chairman is Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, released a statement on its website on Thursday in which it said it is worried about the profiling of citizens, civic groups and public employees.

Why was Mr. Gulen’s name brought up in the coup attempt in Turkey?

Fethullah Gulen: He (Mr. Erdogan) has always had a reaction to those who do not obey him since the beginning. As I previously expressed in other occasions, maybe, he was concealing some of his feelings.

Silencing Taraf daily

The liberal Taraf daily, where I write a column, is one of the few independent newspapers in this country. Those who don’t know the Turkish media well need to know that media outlets are largely owned by private holdings which have close ties to the government. Thus, Turkish newspapers need to consider whether their reporting would harm their bosses’ business connections with the government.

Minister Çelik supports Gülen’s call for Alevi-Sunni brotherhood

“I know Gülen is in a struggle for taking precautions beforehand, by telling the possible problems that may occur in the future,” Minister Çelik stated. He supported the call “Let the mosque and the cemevi be side by side,” by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

Gulen: Oppression will end as politicians will leave office one day but this movement will continue to exist

Little Girl Cries Out For Help For Jailed Mom, Missing Dad In Turkey

Dialogue and distrust: on the predicament of Gulen-inspired organisations in the UK

Operation against the Hizmet movement soon!

Turkish Repression Targets Americans

German Lawmakers Call for Probe on Imams Suspected of Spying for Turkey

Erzurum people call Minister Ala to apologize Gülen for his remarks

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News