On Tuesday 24 and Wednesday 25 May 2005, a delegation of senior EFG Eurobank Ergasias executives led by Chief Executive Officer Nicolaos Nanopoulos visited Turkey.
On Tuesday 24 and Wednesday 25 May 2005, a delegation of senior EFG Eurobank Ergasias executives led by Chief Executive Officer Nicolaos Nanopoulos visited Turkey. They were accompanied by a number of Greek businessmen interested in exploring investment opportunities in the neighbouring country. The visit was organised on the occasion of EFG Eurobank’s recent investment in Turkey involving the acquisition of stockbrokerage firm HC Istanbul Menkul Degerler A.S.
During the visit, Mr. Nanopoulos met with representatives of Turkey’s financial and business communities. The Greek businessmen and Bank representatives were also granted an audition by Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos.
At a luncheon attended by more than 100 Greek and Turkish businessmen to mark the Bank’s investment in Turkey, Mr. Nanopoulos emphasised the steady improvement in the two countries’ trade-and-investment relations, while also stressing that there is considerable room for improvement, provided certain conditions are met. Mr. Nanopoulos underlined, in particular, Turkey’s significant progress in controlling inflation and redressing fiscal imbalances. In the financial sector – he added – cooperation with foreign investors can bring know-how, access to foreign markets and considerable resources. Indeed, this is the reason why there has recently been such interest in the Turkish market on the part of European banks. In this vein, the acquisition of HC Istanbul Menkul Degerler A.S. represents a small yet important step for enhancing further the two countries’ economic cooperation.
It should be noted that HC Istanbul Menkul Degerler A.S. – which has been renamed EFG Istanbul Securities SA – had a total market share of 2.35% in the first four months of 2005, compared with 5.97% for the leading securities firm. In 2004, foreign institutions awarded HC Istanbul Mankul Degerler A.S. first prize among Turkish-based stockbrokerage firms for the quality of its market analyses, in which it has been specialising with success. Moreover, HC Istanbul Menkul Degerler A.S. has been successfully providing advisory and other services in the areas of privatisations and company mergers and acquisitions, as well as the flotation of listed companies’ shares, through private placements.