On 3 December the
commercial bank Vakıfbank (Türkiye Vakıflar Bankası T.A.O.) issued a very brief
announcement to the effect that it had submitted to Turkey’s Capital Markets
Board (Sermaye Piyasası Kurulu – SPK) a request to issue up to 3 bln Turkish
lira (€ 1.29 bln) in lira-denominated bonds of various maturities.
Source: TÜRKİYE
VAKIFLAR BANKASI T.A.O. / VAKBN: Borçlanma Aracı İhracı-Gelişmeler: Özet Bilgi:
Banka Bonosu ve/veya tahvil ihraç edilmesi için Sermaye Piyasası Kurulu'na yapılan
başvuru hk. (2012-12-03 15:15:06 )
On the same day, Vakıfbank
also issued a notice reporting that Fitch Ratings had raised the bank’s rating
from “BB+” to “BBB-”, and had also raised the ratings of the bonds issued by
the bank on 1 December from “BB” to “BB+”.
The original
announcement by Fitch had come on 30 November, when the ratings firm published
the following comuniqué:
Fitch Ratings has upgraded T.C. Ziraat Bankasi A.S., Turkiye Halk Bankasi
A.S. (Halkbank) and Turkiye Vakiflar Bankasi T.A.O.'s (Vakifbank) Viability
Ratings (VR) to 'bbb-' from 'bb+'. Vakifbank's subordinated debt rating has
also been upgraded to 'BB+' from 'BB'. [...]
Fitch also intends to review the VRs and IDRs of the four largest privately-owned
banks, namely Turkiye Is Bankasi A.S., Turkiye Garanti Bankasi A.S., Akbank
T.A.S. and Yapi ve Kredi Bankasi A.S. [...]
The upgrades of the VRs reflect the reduced near-term risks for the
Turkish economy, which has achieved a 'soft landing' in 2012 and is set to
return to higher growth rates from 2013, and the reduction in sovereign risk,
which is reflected in the upgrade of Turkey to an investment grade rating. [...]
Sources:
TÜRKİYE
VAKIFLAR BANKASI T.A.O. / VAKBN: Özel Durum Açıklaması (Genel): Özet Bilgi:
Fitch Not Artırımı (2012-12-03 15:19:27 )
Also on 3 December,
the İstanbul Stock Exchange (İMKB) issued a notice to the effect that the name
of exchange member “Credit Agricole Yatırım Bankası Türk A.Ş.” had been changed
to “Standard Chartered Yatırım Bankası Türk A.Ş.”, with all other details
remaining unchanged. This change follows
a title change to the same effect in the registry of the Office of Trade
Registry of İstanbul on 26 November 2012 . The changes reflect Crédit Agricole’s sale of
its Turkish investment-bank unit to Standard Chartered Bank at the beginning of
November.
Sources:
Finally, on 3 December,
during a visit to Turkey by Russian president Vladimir Putin, the largest bank
in Russia and the CIS, Sberbank (ОАО “Сбербанк России”), signed a memorandum of
understanding worth USD 1 billion with Turkey’s state-owned export credit
agency, Türk Eximbank (Türkiye İhracat Kredi Bankası A.Ş.). The agreement deals with the financing of exports
from Turkey Russia
Sources:
Сбербанк
России и Экспортно-Кредитный Банк Турции подписали меморандум о взаимопонимании
(2012-12-03 20:24 )
Mark Pleas
[contact]
