ANKARA (CIHAN) - The General Council of the Turkish Grand national Assembly (TBMM) on Friday approved a law providing for the transfer of Pamukbank, which had previously been seized by the TMSF, to Halkbank.
According to this law, all assets and liabilities of Pamukbank will be transferred to Halkbank according to a protocol to be regulated between Pamukbank, the Turkish Savings and Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) and Halkbank.
An application will be made to the Turkish Banking Regulatory and Supervision Agency (BDDK) for the initiation of transfer procedures within 15 days of the law coming into force.
The Istanbul Deputy of the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), Kemal Kýlýcdaroglu made a statement at the General Council in which he declared, "Pamukbank was seized by the BDDK in June 18, 2002 due to its financial difficulties. Pamukbank has 1 quadrillion 212 trillion Turkish Liras in its current account and has 2 billion 625 million US dollars in debts. The Turkish Government has shifted the burden of Pamukbank's 2 quadrillion TL debt on to the Turkish people by transferring Pamukbank to Halkbank".
Pamukbank, which is the 7th largest bank in Turkey and in which the Cukuova Group had a majority shareholding, had all its shares transferred to the TMSF on June 18, 2002. The TMSF Administrative Board had offered Pamukbank shares for sale in 2003 with the closing date for share purchase on July 31, 2003. An offer from the Hussein Nuaman Soufraki (HNS Grup) and Finansbank Co. was subsequently presented to the Fund. The TMSF administrative board rejected the offer deeming it insufficient.
There are 528 branch offices of Halkbank and 171 Pamukbank branches in Turkey. It is expected that some Pamukbank branch offices will be closed after the merger.