Istanbul International Financial Centre Feasibility Study
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Istanbul International Financial Centre Feasibility Study October 2007 ABN AMRO Bank N.V. - Adabank A.Ş. - Akbank T.A.Ş. - Alternatif Bank A.Ş. - Anadolubank A.Ş. - Arap Türk Bankası A.Ş. - Banca di Roma S.P.A. - Bank Mellat - BankPozitif Kredi ve Kalkınma Bankası A.Ş. - Birleşik Fon Bankası A.Ş. - Calyon Bank Türk A.Ş. - Citibank A.Ş. - Çalık Yatırım Bankası A.Ş. - Denizbank A.Ş. - Deutsche Bank A.Ş. - Diler Yatırım Bankası A.Ş. - Finans Bank A.Ş. - Fortis Bank A.Ş. - GSD Yatırım Bankası A.Ş. - Habib Bank Limited - HSBC Bank A.Ş. - Đller Bankası - ĐMKB Takas ve Saklama Bankası A.Ş. - JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. - Merrill Lynch Yatırım Bank A.Ş. - Millennium Bank A.Ş. - Nurol Yatırım Bankası A.Ş. - Oyak Bank A.Ş. - Société Générale (SA) - Şekerbank T.A.Ş. - Taib Yatırım Bank A.Ş. - Tekfenbank A.Ş. - Tekstil Bankası A.Ş. - Turkish Bank A.Ş. - Turkland Bank A.Ş. - Türk Ekonomi Bankası A.Ş. - Türk Eximbank - Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Ziraat Bankası A.Ş. - Türkiye Garanti Bankası A.Ş. - Türkiye Halk Bankası A.Ş. - Türkiye Đş Bankası A.Ş. - Türkiye Kalkınma Bankası A.Ş. - Türkiye Sınai Kalkınma Bankası A.Ş. - Türkiye Vakıflar Bankası T.A.O. - WestLB AG - Yapı ve Kredi Bankası A.Ş. This report is prepared by Deloitte Consulting on behalf of the Banks Association of Turkey. The Banks Association of Turkey October, 2007 Contents Executive Summary................................................................ i Volume I: Summary of Findings............................................. 1 1. Context and conclusion 2 2. Istanbul’s position relative to selected competitors 13 3. Strategic positioning 32 4. Financial potential 38 5. Outline of development roadmap 53 Volume II: Appendices........................................................... 73 1. Data sources consulted and interviews conducted 74 2. Summary of interviews 77 3. Key attributes of international financial jurisdictions’ 101 regulatory and fiscal environment 4. Detailed comparative study profiles 104 5. Financial model 228 Executive Summary Background and Conclusion Prompted by developments in the Turkish economy from 2002, and by the increasing potential of the international financial services industry, the Banks’ Association of Turkey commissioned Deloitte&Touche to undertake a detailed feasibility study into the creation of a financial centre in Turkey. Deloitte is one of the world’s leading full-service professional advisory firms. The team assembled to undertake the study have deep experience in financial jurisdiction development - including the full design and implementation of the Qatar Financial Centre. The primary question posed was: “Is it feasible to develop a world-class, value generative financial centre in Turkey?” Whilst the completed study runs to several hundred pages, the conclusion is clear: - Yes... Turkey is a country with the resources, domestic and regional potential, latent skills-base, location and national pride to develop a world- class value generative financial centre. - However… it will take strong leadership and political mobilisation to make difficult decisions, commitment of significant resources and a patient attitude to return on investment The scale of the programme required to develop such a centre is estimated to be in the region of USD 2 billion over the first five years. The scale of benefit is equivalent to USD 20 billion per annum, equivalent to 8 percent uplift in Turkey’s GDP by 2025. The fourteen-week study included over sixty interviews with key stakeholders from the Turkish financial sector and from international banks. Over two hundred data sources were referenced and six detailed competitor studies were completed (including London, Moscow and Dubai). Recommendations were given regarding winning strategies, costs, benefits, and implementation. This briefing note summarises each of the primary sections of the study. The Vision and Strategy of the Istanbul Financial Centre An aspirational but realistic vision has been developed for the Istanbul Financial Centre (IFC). Namely: 1. The IFC will be regionally dominant within 10 years, and will be one of five or six truly international centres within 30 years. 2. In particular it will: i. achieve ‘critical mass’ before Moscow can employ its considerable economic potential to compete with Istanbul, i ii. out-compete Gulf centres on domestic potential, availability of indigenous and attracted talent, and on the quality of life that Istanbul can offer; iii. compete at a cost advantage to Central Europe for outsourcing services. 3. It will be instantly recognisable, and will house a cluster of truly outstanding financial services and business expertise. 4. The IFC will be based upon a fit-for-purpose legal, regulatory, fiscal and technological foundation, which will be fully integrated into the Turkish economy in the mid-term. By this it will both serve and fuel a vibrant financial service industry. 5. The determined focus on ‘fit-for-purpose’ has three major strategic benefits: i. it will maximise the responsiveness of the IFC to the needs of the industry. ii. it will establish a cost of doing business and cost of capital lower than the competition. iii. uniquely amongst emerging competitors, its primary focus will be to provide a jurisdictional platform that allows the markets to compete within it to ‘choose’ the winning products and services. Targeted product strategies will reinforce this but will not lead it. 6. In achieving its vision the IFC will attract an additional 150,000 highly trained financial service employees and will contribute an additional 8 percent to Turkey’s GDP by 2025. Why Can Istanbul Succeed? Financial centres compete on “eleven dimensions of competition”. Amongst these, Istanbul has outstanding potential to exploit its pools of labour and its growing domestic/regional economic growth. In addition, Istanbul can differentiate itself through its lower cost of doing business and (as a truly unique world- city) through its attractive lifestyle. Financial institutions and highly talented individuals consider these to be essential to success, yet they are very difficult (if not impossible) for competitors to match. Furthermore, on considering the vision for the IFC, some of the world’s most senior bankers have stated, “Istanbul has every opportunity to succeed as a Financial Centre”. Issues To Become A Successful Financial Centre There are several issues to be overcome in making the IFC successful: Significant improvements must be made to the legal environment. In particular it will be essential to provide more effective dispute resolution, improved certainty of (and trust in) processes, and improve the financial skills of legal practitioners. ii The fiscal environment needs greater certainty and efficiency, and requires reduction in some indirect taxes. The regulatory environment requires a more coordinated and responsive regulator based in Istanbul, skilled by higher quality ‘commercial-minded’ individuals. The availability of skilled labour needs improving through enhanced ‘analyst’ commercial skills and better mechanisms for turning a young and hard-working young population into good middle/back office staff. Improvements in infrastructure, including improved access to the IFC and the availability of high-quality real estate. Currently there is no brand or image that supports Istanbul as a venue for international finance, and there is no alignment with country-wide branding initiatives. More generally, less costly and more flexible labour laws are required, as is a greater general ease of doing business. How To Make It Happen? The programme to develop the Istanbul Financial Centre is very challenging. It will require: 1. Appoint a lead minister. This person must have ambition and drive, and the ability to influence Cabinet. He/she must be visionary, have international credibility, and be risk aware but not risk averse. 2. Establish outstanding programme governance. This will include: developing an appropriate steering group, programme organisation, and financial control function, developing budgets and assigning budget control, and establishing a programme ‘charter’ which all participants sign in agreement. [3 months] 3. Design the detailed ‘blueprint’ for the centre, defining people, processes and technologies, organisational designs and build requirements. [6 months] 4. Communicate intent to the markets (‘Soft Launch’), after 9 months 5. Commence building each element of the centre. Whilst there are many dependencies, it is realistic and strategically important to open the centre for business (‘Hard Launch’) in 2009. Essential considerations for developing the centre include: 1. Adoption and communication of the correct programme philosophy by the most senior of politicians. This philosophy must insist upon a focus on ‘doing what needs to be done’ not predicting success or failure. Indeed, there is no scenario for Turkey’s financial services sector where it is good to be poor at the basic jurisdictional developments required. 2. Careful consideration of funding options. Whilst the scale of the programme is c. USD 1.8 billion the incremental spend is likely to be c.0.8 billion, much of which may be raised in the commercial market. iii The government of Turkey has many options for raising this finance other than central government financing. 3. Appropriate ‘pace’ of funding release. Funds must be released at a pace that maintains programme momentum and credibility. Net spend in the first two years is likely to be in excess of USD 100 million. 4. Robust and logically