ANKARA
Shareholders of Turkey’s Bank Asya applied to court on Wednesday to regain control of the management of the bank after the country’s insurance fund took it over.
On Feb. 3, the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund, the agency responsible for managing failed banks, appointed a new chief executive officer and board of directors after a decision by the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency.
The agency said its decision to take over the bank was based on a breach of transparency requirements with respect to the disclosure of Bank Asya’s partnership structure.
Shareholders want to suspend the takeover. The bank’s shareholder lawyer, Suleyman Tasbas, said they have applied to Istanbul Regional Administrative Court complaining that the official reason did not merit the takeover of the bank.
Turkey’s Savings Deposit Insurance Fund and the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency were both involved in the decision to take over Bank Asya.
The bank was founded in 1996 and is affiliated with U.S.-based preacher Fethullah Gulen's Hizmet movement.
