Financial Services

The Turkish insurance sector is dominated by 25 multinational insurance companies, which held some 52% of the market in 2012. Gross insurance premiums grew 15.5% in nominal lira terms, or 8.8% in real terms, in 2012, and subscriber growth reached 18% that year. Protecting non-vehicular property accounted for 22% of the insurance market in 2012, with the largest segments fire (9%) and earthquake...

Following the 2012 enactment of the new capital markets law, the Istanbul Stock exchange was merged with the Istanbul Gold Exchange and renamed Borsa Istanbul. Following a dismal performance in 2011, equity markets staged a dramatic recovery in 2012, with the dollar-based version of the Borsa Istanbul’s broadest index, the BIST 100, coming within 4% of its record high in January 2013. The...

The Turkish banking sector has suffered from a pattern of booms and lulls in the past, and, as a result, a number of policy reforms have been instituted to improve regulation. The sector looked to be starting a process of maturation in 2013 as it continued to record solid growth without overheating, with lending growing at an annualised rate of 16% in the first two months of 2013. The efforts...