BTMU to expand banking business in Turkey

Japan’s largest bank will invest US$300 million to establish a subsidiary in Turkey.

Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ will open the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Turkey Anonim Sirketi as a wholly-owned subsidiary in Istanbul. The opening will be subject to regulatory approval by the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency.

Once it receives its license to operate, the subsidiary will be one of only two new banks established in Turkey in the last 14 years.

“We aim to achieve a loan volume of $5 billion within three or five years. And this is not limited to the Istanbul region,” said Shoji Nakano, chief executive of BTMU’s Europe, Middle East and Africa operations.

BTMU has been present in Turkey since 1986 through a representative office.

“We want to utilize the opportunities [in Turkey],” Nakano said. “We have reached some 80 percent of institutionalized Japanese companies in Germany and England. We can again reach 80 percent of such Japanese companies in Turkey.”

Turkey’s strong growth is proving attractive for Japanese banks. Turkey’s growth is second only to China among G-20 countries, with a real GDP growth rate of 8.5% in 2011. In 2013, Turkey’s GDP growth rate is expected to exceed 4%.

BTMU is the largest bank in Japan and the eighth largest in the world. It is the core retail and commercial banking arm of the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.