​BRSA calls emergency meeting with banks

TURKEY - In Brief 10 Aug 2018 by Atilla Yesilada

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I don’t know if any of our audience checks her mail box on Saturday, but this can’t wait until Monday. Bloomberg as well as IPA International Press Agency claim that Turkey’s banking authority BRSA has invited banks, leasing and factoring companies to an emergency meeting on Saturday to assess the damage of the currency shock experienced on Friday. IPA reports that BRSA sources called the events “red Friday” and were alarmed by reports of numerous bank branches running out of F/X, as depositorsrushed in to cash out in fear of the imposition of capital controls. I copy the salient portion of the Bloomberg article: Turkish Bank Crisis Prompts Emergency Meeting on Saturday The Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency, known as BDDK, will meet with bankers, according to four people with knowledge of the matter, a day after the lira tanked as much as 17 percent. That was the biggest drop since a financial crisis in 2001 wiped out much of the banking sector. Visits to the branches of three large private lenders on Friday showed all were struggling to keep up with requests for foreign currencies. At two banks, customers couldn’t receive foreign currency because the branches were waiting for replenishment from headquarters. One bank couldn’t meet a request to withdraw $5,000. Tellers at each of the facilities reported a significant increase in requests for foreign-exchange withdrawals. The regulator on Friday requested that banks study the impact of interest and exchange-rate shocks, with the findings to be discussed at the emergency meeting on Saturday, according to three people with direct knowledge of the matter. They’ll also discuss the liquidity situation in the country,...