Ziraat

The government has transferred the public stakes in a number of major public companies to a recently established sovereign wealth fund, stating that the aim was to secure credit at lower rates for big projects by using the shares in these valuable companies as collateral.

Turkey's state-owned Ziraat Bank saw profit surge by 13 percent in the third quarter compared with the same period of 2014, the bank said in a statement late Nov. 4.

The bank's profit reached 1.152 billion Turkish Liras ($402 million), up from 1.02 billion liras ($35.6 billion) in the third quarter of last year.

The New York branch of the Turkish state-run bank Ziraat is subject to an 'enforcement action' with the U.S. Federal Reserve and is subject to inspections for up to two years to ensure it is complying with anti-money laundering rules.