Turkish regulators said they had placed struggling private Turkish bank Ulusal under state supervision Wednesday, February 28, because mounting losses meant it could no longer honor its obligations. The Regulatory and Supervisory Banking Commission (BBDK)—which is trying to clean up the Turkish banking sector—said in a statement that the bank's activities "endangered the financial sector".
The BBDK has now taken control of 11 banks since a law took effect in December 1999 imposing international norms and rigorous supervision on the Turkish banking system, in line with a package of IMF-supported reforms. The Turkish government, in the middle of a political and economic crisis, abandoned currency controls on February 22. Since then, the lira has lost nearly one third of its value, and the International Monetary Fund reforms have been called into question.
Ulusal Bank, founded in 1985, is Turkey's 31st-biggest bank, employing 231 people. —(AFP)
© Agence France Presse 2000
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
