Holding’s companies seized
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkish regulators have seized 38 firms belonging to Avrupa ve Amerika Holding, a company which state officials say has failed to pay its debts after its Iktisat Bank collapsed, the regulators said yesterday. The action underscores the government’s determination to act against former owners of some of the scores of banks that have been seized over several years by the banking regulators. Officials say Avrupa ve Amerika Holding company owes the state Savings and Deposits Insurance Fund (TMSF), which holds failed banks in receivership, $1.6 billion from loans its Iktisat bank made to fellow group firms. Among the firms taken over were subscription TV station Cine 5 and cable Internet service provider Kablonet. The banking watchdog took over Iktisat in 2001 amid a financial crisis that sparked a run on the bank’s deposits. It was the country’s 19th largest bank before the takeover.
