Turkey removes 3 foreign banks' FX transactions ban

By Murat Birinci

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkey on Monday removed foreign exchange transactions bans with Turkish lira for three foreign banks -- BNP Paribas, Citibank, and UBS.

After banks fulfilled their Turkish lira commitments, the restrictions were removed, according to the information given by Turkey’s Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BRSA).

Last week, the banking watchdog restricted the three banks from doing foreign exchange transactions with the Turkish lira, due to some reports saying some London-based financial institutions were engaged in manipulative attacks aimed at depreciating the Turkish lira, by buying large amounts of foreign currency with liras they do not own.

Investigations on these banks' transactions will continue.

Last week, the USD/TRY exchange rate saw over 7.20 level, and after the BRSA's move, it dropped to 7-7.10 level.

* Writing and contribution by Gokhan Ergocun