Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
Bank Asya, a large Turkish bank, will be put up for sale by late May 2016, head of Turkey's banking watchdog, the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK), Mehmet Ali Akben said, the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reported May 11.
Akben said that if the bank isn't sold, its license will be revoked.
He went on to add that a number of large investors in the domestic market is now interested in buying Bank Asya.
Bank Asya was fully transferred to the control of the state-run Savings Deposit Insurance Fund on Feb.4.
The bank reportedly had problems with liquidity but this would not affect the fulfillment of obligations to the clients whose funds would be repaid by the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund in the case of necessity.
Bank Asya is regarded as one of the banks having close ties to the Gulen movement. Fethullah Gulen is an Islamic public figure currently residing in the US. He is accused of being involved in a huge wiretapping scandal in Turkey.
Turkey's Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency decided to temporarily suspend the license of Bank Asya on August 7, 2014.
Bank Asya closed its 80 branches in the country and put up for sale its assets in the pension and insurance funds in September 2014.
In addition, the bank sold its 40-percent stake in Tamweel Africa Holding for $37.7 million.
Bank Asya also sold its 21.8-percent stake in the Yeni Magazacilik A.S. for 350 million TRY in January 2014.