Turkish financial sector buys 85.05% of JCR Eurasia

By Aysu Bicer

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s leading banking and financial institutions inked a deal to buy 85.05% of credit rating agency JCR Eurasia, Turkey’s banking association said on Friday.

Borsa Istanbul will hold 18.5% of the company, while Japan Credit Rating Agency will hold 14.95%. Turkish private and state lenders, including Ziraat Bank, Garanti BBVA, Yapi Kredi will also hold stakes in the company with 2.86%, said a statement by The Banks Association of Turkey.

According to the association, the new partnership will determine the credit worthiness of companies wishing to borrow from financial markets, which would help use of financial resources more efficiently.

The plan could be considered a “tangible step” taken by Turkey in setting up a “national credit rating agency”.

For a long time, Turkey has criticized international agencies, saying they might be subjective and do non-transparent evaluation from time to time, resulting in an unfair decrease of confidence in some countries' economies.