Turkey bans three int'l banks

JEDDAH, May 09 (Arab News): Turkey has banned three major international banks - BNP Paribas, Citibank and UBS - from performing foreign exchange transactions with Turkish Lira.

The country's Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) cited the banks' failure to meet their Turkish lira liabilities in time as the reason for its decision on Thursday. How long the ban will remain in force is unclear.

Ironically, Berat Albayrak, Turkey's finance minister - and son-in-law of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan - met with international investors at a video conference organized by Citigroup and Societe Generale the day before the surprise ban on the bank.

During the closed-door online meeting, Albayrak attempted to convince international investors that Turkey's reserves are sufficient and said the country has been holding swap line talks with its G20 peers.