ANKARA
The takeover of Bank Asya by the Turkish Savings Deposit Insurance Fund is entirely legal, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Wednesday.
In an interview broadcast from a private TV channel late Wednesday, Davutoglu said that the decision is fully compatible with banking law and there is no political motivation or directive behind the ruling of Turkey's Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency.
“This is entirely a legal decision. It has no political aspect. It is not a decision taken with a directive,” Davutoglu said. “And the legal aspects of this decision can be only examined on the basis of objective criteria.”
The Agency’s decision is based on the breach of transparency requirements with respect to disclosure of Bank Asya’s partnership structure, Davutoglu said, pointing out that transparency problems can lead to serious violations of rights and raise distrust in financial markets.
“It is not right to treat transparency issues in the banking sector as some sort of exception when these regulations are imposed on all banks,” Davutoglu said.
Science and Industry Minister Fikri Isik said that there are strict rules in financial markets of Turkey imposing transparency on banks under the supervision of Turkey's banking watchdog.
"The goal is to protect people from mistreatment. All the actors in the banking sector have to follow the rules exactly, especially the rules protecting depositors from harm,” Isik said.
The Economy Minister of Turkey Nihat Zeybekci and Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus on Wednesday made statements explaining that the decision was a technical procedure based on banking regulations.
