In October 2012, Lebanon’s Bank Audi became the first foreign lender to obtain a banking licence in Turkey in 15 years, as the country’s regulators sought to bring in more foreign capital.
Since then, Audi’s Turkish subsidiary, Odea Bank, has opened six branches – four in Istanbul, one in the capital Ankara and one in Izmir. The bank’s CEO, Hüseyin Özkaya, plans to open another 26 branches throughout Turkey’s larger cities in 2013, and then grow to 100 outlets in the next five years.
