Halkbank

Türkiye Wealth Fund (TWF) has signed a $100 million Murabaha financing agreement with Sharjah Islamic Bank (SIB).

This three-year term agreement marks the first Islamic finance transaction for the TWF.

Doğan Investment Bank acted as the financial adviser and coordinator for the transaction, the fund said in a statement.

Expert Jonathan Schanzer, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies' Senior Vice President for Research, joins Thanos Davelis to look into the Supreme Court decision this week that the Turkish state-owned Halkbank remains subject to criminal prosecution in US courts for conspiring to evade US sanctions against Iran.

The U.S. Supreme Court has given Türkiye's state-owned lender Halkbank another chance to avoid criminal charges in the United States for allegedly helping Iran evade American economic sanctions, but rejected a key defense mounted by the bank.

The Istanbul Financial Center (IFC) will open on April 17, Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum has said.

A ceremony will be held to deliver houses in the Fikirtepe neighborhood to be attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Kurum said during a visit in Istanbul.

The government's Treasury-supported loan package scheme for tradesmen and craftsmen has taken effect following a presidential decree, Treasury and Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati has announced.

The top executives of the three Turkish state lenders - Ziraat, Halkbank and Vakıfbank - have pledged to grant loans to Turkish businesses in a bid to support economic development and increase prosperity.

General managers of Turkey's three state banks met with businesspeople in the northwestern province of Bursa on Feb. 3.

Turkish state-owned lenders Ziraat, Vakıfbank and Halkbank have lowered loan interest rates between 50 and100 basis points on Nov. 19.

After the Central Bank cut its benchmark rate from 16 percent to 15 percent on Nov. 18, the three banks decided to follow suit.

A court in Ankara has sentenced Enver Altaylı, a former official of the National Intelligence Organization (MİT), to a total of 23 years in prison for "political and military espionage" and membership to a terrorist organization.

Altaylı was detained and arrested in 2017 as part of an investigation into the FETÖ, which was responsible for the failed coup attempt in 2016. 

Home sales are expected to receive a boost following state-lenders' decision to slash interest rates, according to representatives from the sector.

After the Central Bank's decision last week to reduce the key policy rate by 200 basis points, three state-owned lenders, namely Ziraat Bank, Halkbank and Vakıfbank, this week cut interest rates on loans, including housing loans.

Turkey's seven largest banks have sufficient short-term foreign currency (FC) liquidity to service FC debt during the event of a brief market closure, Fitch Ratings said on Sept. 23 in a report.