Financial agencies relocating to İstanbul as part of gov’t plan
Posted by meb at January 13th, 2008
One aspect of the new government action plan announced by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan involves moving the headquarters of economic agencies from the capital to İstanbul.
The Central Bank of Turkey will be relocated to İstanbul as well as publicly owned banks such as Ziraat, Halkbank and Vakıfbank. The government, which has decided to make İstanbul the capital of finance, also wants to move other autonomous financial agencies, such as the Capital Markets Board (SPK), the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) and the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF), to İstanbul. According to the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government, İstanbul is the de facto financial capital of the country and thus needs to be transformed into an international finance capital like Frankfurt, London and Shanghai.
Many financial analysts state that moving the central bank to İstanbul will merely serve to boost morale in financial markets, adding that it really does not matter in the electronic age where the headquarters of the bank is located. Analysts note that the government is making this move to appease business circles in İstanbul. Most of the developed world has their central banks in their capital cities, not in the centers of finance, including France, Holland, England, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, the US, Brazil and China. Only Germany and Australia have central banks outside their capitals.
Court of Accounts to have branch in İstanbul
As part of the plans to transform İstanbul into a financial world capital, the Court of Accounts, which inspects the state’s revenue and expenditure books, will have a branch in İstanbul. A recent bill making an amendment to the Court of Accounts Law was sent to Parliament a few weeks ago. When the bill passes, it will be the first time one of Turkey’s three top courts will have a branch outside the capital. It is hoped that the branch, which will track the expenditures of public agencies in İstanbul, will lessen the burden on the court in Ankara.
The AK Party, as a part of its public administration reform, will launch a restructuring project. Turkey’s Marine Undersecretariat will be moved to İstanbul as part of the restructuring process. Some other public agencies may also be moved.
However, heads of the autonomous financial institutions have mainly expressed criticism of the government since it put forth the idea of relocating such institutions to İstanbul. Head of the TMSF Ahmet Ertürk in a written statement said: “If you are to make İstanbul a financial center of the world, you have to first transform Turkey into a financial center. Can a city like Istanbul be a Silicon Valley and a cultural capital at the same time?”
source: Today’s Zaman
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