The Bank of China (BOC) has received permission to operate a deposit bank in Turkey through the investment of $300 million. Turkey’s regulator Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) said BOC had brought the ‘required capital’ and would apply to start operating shortly. The bank, the world’s seventh largest and the third largest in China, has been interested in Turkey for a long time. It launched preparations to establish a commercial bank in the country in 2015 after establishing a representative office in 2011. It will become the second Chinese bank to operate in Turkey after the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), which purchased a majority stake in Tekstilbank last year. The BDDK recently said three foreign banks had voiced a strong interest in Turkey and were likely to enter the Turkish market in 2017.
