TEB: A brief history

One of Turkey’s oldest and most deeply-rooted financial institutions, Türk Ekonomi Bankası (TEB) commenced banking operations in 1927. Since then the bank has continued to expand its branch network and product and service diversity. Today TEB is active in a variety of financial intermediary services that include investment banking, leasing, factoring, insurance, and portfolio management.

As a pioneering advocate of banking-industry business principles such as professional management, transparency, and ethical behavior in Turkey, TEB conducts its operations in full compliance with the corporate governance principles published by the Turkish Capital Markets Board.

On 10 February 2005, TEB entered into a strategic partnership with BNP Paribas, a global bank which has a presence in 74 countries and which today is the world’s seventh-biggest asset manager and the euro area’s number one bank. Under this strategic partnership, in which the strengths of one of the Turkish finance industry’s strongest and most reputable brands and those of a global player’s international experience and clout are united, BNP Paribas owns stakes in TEB Investment, BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions, TEB Factoring, TEB Asset Management, and TEB Kosovo.

One of Europe’s leading banks thanks to its international network, BNP Paribas plays an active role not just in banking but also in the asset management and corporate investment business lines as well. The specific goals of the TEB-BNP Paribas strategic partnership are (1) to enhance TEB’s strength as a domestic bank while also making BNP Paribas’s international knowledge and experience and its services and products accessible to a wider audience and (2) to gain international market recognition for the TEB brand.

An important benefit of TEB’s collaboration with BNP Paribas and of the international recognition that it brings arises from TEB’s inclusion in BNP Paribas’s network of trade centers at more than 100 locations in 60 countries. Located in İstanbul, İzmir, and Adana, the three Trade Centers in Turkey provide consultancy and banking support on foreign-trade issues while also helping customers to pursue international business opportunities. Under the TEB-BNP Paribas strategic partnership, TEB has begun to set up “Turkey Desks” in countries where Turkish contractors and other businesses have substantial operations on the one hand and BNP Paribas has a strong presence on the other.

In the wake of its strategic partnership with BNP Paribas, TEB began making good use of its decades of expertise in the corporate, commercial, and private banking business lines in the areas of retail banking and SME banking as well.