Azerbaijan, Baku, March 11 / Trend A. Taghiyeva /
After the Azerbaijani Central Bank (CBA) raised the minimum requirement for banks' capital fivefold - up to 50 million manat, some Azerbaijani banks appealed to some Turkish banks with a proposal about partnerships, Hurriyet newspaper said on Monday. This requirement will come into force from January 1, 2014.
According to the newspaper, some Azerbaijani banks offered Turkish banks the facility to buy them completely or partially, by becoming their shareholders. To date Azerbaijani banks, whose names are not disclosed, have already held talks with Turkish banks.
Azerbaijani banks seek to sign relevant agreements with any Turkish banks by the end of June 2013, because after that time the cost of Azerbaijani banks can significantly decrease due a date of using a new requirement for the banks capitalisation in Azerbaijan.
The Turkish largest private bank - İs Bankası has repeatedly voiced its desire to enter the Azerbaijani banking market. The bank intends to do this by opening a branch.
İs Bankası has previously considered various variants of joining the market through establishing a new bank or purchasing an existing one in the country.
Founded in 1924, Is Bankasi is the largest private bank in Turkey in terms of assets. It has made a significant contribution to the development of the Turkish economy for many years. The bank has 1194 branches in Turkey with 24,788 employees. The bank also has 12 branches in Germany and one in France, Holland, Switzerland and Bulgaria.
There are 43 banks in Azerbaijan, of which 22 have foreign capital.
The official exchange rate is 0.7849 AZN/USD on March 11.