VZCZCXRO0948
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHDIR RUEHKUK
DE RUEHAK #0298/01 0500542
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
P 190542Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5255
INFO RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL PRIORITY 3886
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC PRIORITY

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 000298 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
EUR/SE (MALIK, GARBE); EEB (LAMBERT, COULTER); ISN 
(MCGEEHAN) 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/17/2018 
TAGS: KNNP MNUM IR TU EFIN
SUBJECT: TURKEY: MORE FROM BRSA ON IRANIAN BANKING INTEREST 
 
REF: A. ANKARA 277 
     ¶B. STATE 5584 
     ¶C. 2007 ANKARA 2777 
 
Classified By: Acting Economic Counselor Courtney Turner for reasons 1. 
4 (b,d) 
 
¶1. (S) Summary.  In a follow-up meeting on Ref B issues, 
Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BRSA) Chairman 
Tevfik Bilgin (please protect) told us that the proposed Bank 
Melli purchase of Adabank is not possible at this time. 
Adabank is under the supervision of Turkey's Securities 
Deposit Insurance Fund (SDIF).  Eighteen months ago, a 
Kuwaiti coalition made a 45 million YTL (or USD 37.5 million) 
offer to buy Adabank.  BRSA reviewed the financial ability of 
the coalition, found it lacking, and disapproved the bid. 
The Kuwaitis appealed that decision to the Danistay (Turkish 
Court of Appeals), which has not yet ruled.  While that 
decision is pending, Adabank remains under SDIF supervision 
and cannot be bought or sold.  Additionally, Bilgin said the 
most optimistic blue-sky valuation of Adabank would be USD 
100 million.  He called the reported Melli bid of USD 250 
million "absurd" and "way too much".  End summary. 
 
¶2. (S) Bilgin noted that BRSA and SDIF were one organization 
until the 2004 Banking Act separated them.  Both entities now 
report directly to Deputy Prime Minister for Economy Nazim 
Ekren.  Bilgin called BRSA and SDIF "twin brothers" who work 
together.  It is apparent, though, that like brothers they 
also sometimes fight and have conflicting priorities.  SDIF's 
mandate is to sell off its assets for the most money as 
quickly as possible.  BRSA must approve all sales related to 
bank assets and goes through the due diligence process 
outlined in para 4 below before the sale can be approved.  He 
said the SDIF sometimes makes a handshake deal with a 
potential buyer that the BRSA then has to disapprove, as in 
the case of the Kuwaiti Coalition-bid on Adabank.  Bilgin 
said after the SDIF handshake is made, there is "much 
pressure" for BRSA to approve the deal, but the BRSA board 
only does so when the financial condition, capital adequacy, 
and buyer's reputation make it "fit and proper" for approval 
to be granted.  He noted that when BRSA disapproved the deal 
by a Kuwaiti group headed by TII's Adnan al Bahar (NFI), the 
head of SDIF was quoted in the press as saying BRSA had made 
a "stupid" decision.  (Note that Adnan al Bahar, Finance 
Minister Kemal Unakitan, and the current head of SDIF are all 
former employees of Istanbul-based Albaraka Turk 
participation bank.  End note.) 
 
¶3. (S) Bilgin gave more detail about the 9/07 meeting with a 
team of visiting Iranian businessmen outlined in Ref C.  The 
group was coming to Turkey to deliver two messages: a) Iran 
is ready for Turkish banks to open operations in Iran and 
willing to give them preferential tax treatment and business 
incentives; and b) Iranian banks want to be in Turkey.  As 
noted in para 4, Bilgin told them no approval to start a bank 
from scratch in Turkey has been made for more than seven 
years.  Bilgin told the group the only way to get into the 
Turkish market was to buy an existing bank, and he outlined 
the due diligence process they would have to undertake. 
Bilgin added that no specific bank names in Turkey or Iran 
were discussed in the meeting.  Bilgin gave us the names of 
the delegation from Iran, which was led by an Iranian 
diplomat assigned to Turkey, Ahmad Noorani.  Other 
participants were Abdolreza R. Hanjani, Mohamad Nahavandian, 
and Yahya Ale-es Hagh.  He did not give us information on 
their companies or affiliations. 
 
¶4. (S) Bilgin described the process for the purchase and sale 
of banks in Turkey and beyond.  Any entity wishing to buy a 
Turkish bank must go through a due diligence process lasting 
at least three months and culminating in a vote by the BRSA 
board.  Without the seven-member board's majority-vote 
approval, the purchase cannot be made.  Bilgin advised that 
no permission has been given for seven years for the creation 
of a new bank in Turkey, although he noted that many 
purchases and mergers have occurred during that period.  He 
added that any Turkish bank wishing to open a branch outside 
Turkey or buy a bank outside Turkey must go through the same 
due diligence process and receive board approval before 
completing a deal.  Bilgin reported that in 2004, Ziraat Bank 
applied for permission to open a representative office in 
Tehran.  The permission was granted and the rep office was 
opened. 
 
¶5. (S) Regarding the UNSCR 1737 and 1747 sanctions process, 
Bilgin said the MFA quickly transmits the official UNSCR 
names and data to BRSA.  BRSA then shares that information 
 
ANKARA 00000298  002 OF 002 
 
 
in-house and prepares notices for the banking association and 
individual banks, asking them to query their customer 
databases and freeze any relevant accounts.  Bilgin noted 
that these processes are done as quickly as possible given 
technological constraints. 
 
¶6. (S) As noted in Ref A, we attempted to get a meeting with 
SDIF to inform them in person about Ref B points but SDIF 
declined to meet. 
 
Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turk ey 
 
WILSON