Correction and Apology to Mr Özince and Isbank
In the August 2016 issue of Euromoney, in our article 'Binbasgil pilots Akbank through Turkey's turbulence', we incorrectly stated that "Isbank's chairman, Ersin Özince, was arrested in March and charged with financing a fuel-smuggling ring, which he denies".
It has since been brought to our attention, however, that Mr Özince has never been on trial regarding the crime mentioned in our article and has never been arrested. We are happy to issue this correction and apologise for any offence caused to Mr Özince and to Isbank.
It is mid-afternoon in Buenos Aires on Friday, July 15, and half a world away from his base in Istanbul, Akbank’s chief executive Hakan Binbasgil is preparing to return home after a few weeks in South America on vacation. Binbasgil has been Akbank CEO since 2012, and after four years of 12 hour days building what the stock market now values as Turkey’s biggest bank, he felt he deserved this rare Eid break.
The last year was particularly tough for Turkish bankers, operating in one of the world’s most turbulent regions, dealing with the economic consequences of the terror attack at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport only three weeks earlier, the civil war in neighbouring Syria, Ankara’s diplomatic brawl with Moscow, which crippled Turkish trade and tourism, and the burden of millions of refugees and migrants descending on Turkey en route to Europe.
