Turkey's banking authority vetoes ABN Amro handover
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Turkey's banking regulatory authority has rejected an appeal by a European banking partnership to hand over ABN Amro's six branches in Turkey due to security concerns.
Turkey's Banking Regulating Board (BDDK) rejected the appeal of the partnership, composed of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Belgian Fortis Bank and Spanish Banco Santander, to hand over the Dutch bank ABN Amro's six branches in Turkey, Hurriyet daily reported on Saturday.
The board rejected the appeal after it was informed by Turkey's intelligence agency that Barclays, Britain's third largest bank and the partner of the RBS, had acted as an intermediary in a number of transactions of the outlawed separatist PKK in Europe.
The intelligence agency informed the board that the outlawed separatist PKK had accounts in Barclays, who has a 3 percent partnership with RBS.
The partnership purchased ABN Amro for 71 billion euros in a bid which is accepted as the biggest sale in the world's banking history.
The chairman of the BDDK Tevfik Bilgin confirmed the decision, but told Hurriyet daily that he could not give any further details.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist group by Turkey and much of the international community, including the EU and the U.S..