On 10 October 2011, Moody’s published an updated Credit Opinion on GBI confirming the Bank’s investment grade LT deposit rating of Baa1 and BFSR of C- with stable outlook.

The full report is available in pdf format.

We are pleased to announce that Moody’s confirmed GBI’s ratings and changed the outlook to stable from negative.

July 26, 2011 -- Moody’s Investors Service has today affirmed the C- bank financial strength rating (BFSR) -- mapping to Baa2 on the long-term scale -- and the Baa1 long-term deposit and senior debt ratings of GarantiBank International NV. Moody's has also affirmed the Prime-2 short-term deposit and debt ratings and Baa2 subordinate debt ratings and changed the outlook to stable from negative on all these ratings.

The full press release is available in pdf format Moody’s Press Release – GBI (26.07.2011).pdf

GBI won 4 medals in this year's TFR (Trade&Forfaiting Review) polls:

Silver Medal | Best Forfaiting Institution
Bronze Medal | Best Trade Bank Western Europe
Bronze Medal | Best Trade Bank Eastern Europe
Bronze Medal | Best Trade Bank Soft Commodities

This has been the first time that GBI won 4 medals in the same year and was awarded in two consecutive years. GBI was also in the rankings in two categories in 2010, 3 categories in 2008 and one category in 2006.

The complete list of winners at all categories:

www.tfreview.com

We are pleased to announce the successful closing of the Facility in Amsterdam on Tuesday, 05 July, 2011. The Facility included a club of 18 banks from 8 countries and easily exceeded the initial target amount of €150,000,000. The Facility carries a margin of 0.60% per annum and has a maturity of one year. The proceeds of the loan will be used by the Borrower for general trade finance activities.

Wells Fargo - National Association, Standard Chartered Bank and ING Commercial Banking acted as the Coordinating Bank, the Documentation Agent and the Facility Agent for the Facility, respectively.

The Mandated Lead Arrangers are Standard Chartered Bank, Wells Fargo Bank - National Association, ING Commercial Bank, HSBC Bank plc, Barclays Capital and Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft.

The Borrower

Amsterdam-based GBI was established on 3 October 1990 and started its operations in April 1991. GBI is wholly-owned by Türkiye Garanti Bankasi A.S., one of the three largest financial institutions in Turkey. BBVA (Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria), the second largest bank of Spain, owns 24.89% of the parent bank's shares. GBI operates under the Laws of the Netherlands, and the supervision of the Dutch Central Bank (De Nederlandsche Bank or DNB). GBI’s business activities include trade finance, private banking, structured finance, corporate & commercial banking and retail banking.

GBI currently maintains an investment grade rating of Baa1 from Moody’s.

Dogus Holding A.S. entered into a share purchase agreement with Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. (BBVA), one of Europe's major banks and the second largest bank in Spain, with respect to the acquisition of a portion of shares of Türkiye Garanti Bankasi A.S.

Pursuant to the share purchase agreement signed on November 1, 2010, BBVA agreed to acquire 26,418,840,000 shares representing 6.2902% of Garanti Bank's issued share capital, for a total consideration of USD 2,062,000,000.

In addition, BBVA entered into a share purchase agreement with General Electric, with respect to the acquisition of 78,120,000,000 shares representing 18.60%. Following the closing of the transaction after obtaining the approvals of the relevant regulatory bodies Dogus and BBVA will each hold 24,8902% stake in Garanti Bank.

On 15 September 2010, Moody's published an updated Credit Opinion on GBI confirming its investment grade LT rating of Baa1 and BFSR of C- with negative outlook.

The rating reflects GBI's role as a niche player in a number of competitive market segments - notably in international trade and commodity finance, in structured finance but also in internet deposits in the Netherlands and Germany. The BFSR also takes into consideration the bank's financial fundamentals, its significant exposure and concentrations to emerging markets, particularly the risks associated with the Turkish market and the CIS countries, as well as the steps taken by the bank to mitigate these risks.

The full rating report is available in pdf format

In June 2010, Trade & Forfaiting Review magazine awarded GBI with silver medal at "Best Trade Bank in Eastern Europe" category. In addition, GBI also earned a bronze medal at "Best Trade Bank in Soft Commodities" category.

For full list of medallists at all categories, click here

Your relationship with us is governed by the General Banking Conditions (GBC) and any additional conditions that relate to banking services and products offered by the bank. These terms and conditions specify your rights and obligations towards the bank and our rights and obligations towards you as a client. The entry into force of new European regulations relating to payment services as of 1 November 2009 will bring about changes to the GBC. The GBC are established by the Dutch Bankers Association (de Nederlandse Vereniging van Banken (NVB) and apply to all banks that are members of the NVB.

This notice sets out a summary of the changes that shall take effect as of 1 November 2009.

General Banking Conditions

You may download a copy of the revised GBC below. The main changes to the GBC are:

• As of 1 November 2009, the terms and conditions relating to payment services are covered by the Payment Services Conditions.
• New provisions have been included in relation to Dutch regulations on the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing.
• Obsolete provisions have been removed and the GBC have been revised in a more clear and comprehensible form.

For further information on the GBC you may refer to the Explanatory Notes below, or alternatively visit the NVB website.

Payment Services Conditions

You may download a copy of our Payment Services Conditions ('PSC') below. The PSC apply to the relevant agreements with the accountholders of the bank who make use of payment services. The PSC comply with new legislation which comes into force on 1 November 2009 implementing the European Payment Services Directive in the Netherlands.

For further information on the main changes introduced by the new legislation relating to payment services you may refer to the Information Booklet below, or alternatively visit the NVB website.

General Banking Conditions (changed version effective as of 1 November 2009)
Explanation of the General Terms and Conditions
GBI Payment Services Conditions
Information Booklet on changes relating to Payment Services

On 28 August 2009, Moody's published an updated Credit Opinion on GBI confirming the Bank's investment grade LT rating of Baa1 and BFSR of C- with negative outlook.

The ratings reflect GBI's role as a niche player in the competitive segment of international trade and commodity finance, and its good financial fundamentals. Less positively, it also takes into consideration the bank's significant exposure and concentrations to emerging markets, particularly the risks associated with the Turkish market and the CIS countries in a context of worsening economic conditions.

The full rating report is available in pdf format

On 26 March 2009, Moody's Investors Service assigned investment grade long-term debt and deposit ratings of Baa1 and a bank financial strength rating (BFSR) of C- to GBI.

The related press release is as follows:

Press release
9 October 2008
The Ministry of Finance and De Nederlandsche Bank announce the following

The Dutch financial system is essentially sound but is now facing major external shocks. The Dutch authorities are determined to safeguard the stability of, and confidence in, this system and to protect the financial enterprises within it. To this end, they will take all the necessary measures in the current exceptional circumstances, while keeping in line with similar initiatives recently taken by other countries, since this will also preserve a level playing field.

The measures by the Dutch authorities cover both liquidity provision and capital reinforcement. They are aimed at the banks and insurers established in the Netherlands and at groups to which those banks and insurers belong, as well as to financial subsidiaries established in the Netherlands of foreign financial enterprises or groups, regardless of their size(jointly referred to hereafter as financial enterprises).

Given the persistent tensions in the money markets, the Eurosystem decided on 8 October 2008 that, for as long as needed, but at least until 20 January 2009, it will carry out the weekly main refinancing operations with full allotment at a fixed rate. In addition, De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) will grant special credit to individual financial enterprises against adequate collateral, if and for as long as necessary. The short-term financing of these enterprises against collateral will hence be secured.

As regards solvency, the Dutch government is committed to make capital available to each financial enterprise in the Netherlands that is fundamentally sound and viable. The objective is to maintain these institutions? own funds at the levels deemed necessary by the supervisor. The contribution of the government can take various forms, such as a participation via preferential shares, or otherwise if so required on account of the legal form, group structure or other considerations. Any financial enterprise meeting the above description is entitled to apply for this measure. If necessary, financial enterprises may consult with the authorities on specific balance-sheet problems. In any event, all these measures will be subject to conditions in order to limit market distortions and the financial risks for the government and to prevent misuse. The conditions will relate, among other things, to guarantees on returns, the financing of operational costs by the financial enterprises concerned, executive pay and representation in the executive bodies.

The key principle for the Dutch authorities is to react flexibly to the rapidly changing circumstances. That is why they did not set up a fund with a specified amount in advance; nonetheless, EUR 20 billion is available immediately. The authorities will look at each application individually and will act quickly and decisively. The government?s contributions will be provided on market terms.

With these measures, the Dutch authorities are protecting the financial enterprises against the prevailing external shocks. While thus creating a solid basis for these enterprises, they are restoring and reinforcing confidence in the Dutch financial system and contributing to the stability of the international financial system.

The above applies for a period of one year as of 10 October 2008.

Finally, the Dutch authorities state that they are aware of the UK proposal for a concerted approach to the problem of restarting the funding market of financial enterprises. The Dutch authorities will actively take part in international discussions on this proposal.

The voting in this year's TFR Awards was not only the biggest ever, but also produced some of the closest voting ever, too - and some surprises.

Away from the winners, there were a number of interesting voting trends. Garanti emerged as 'one to watch' as it polled strongly in a number of areas, including Russia/CIS and came a close second to Fortis in the category of Best Soft Commodity Finance Bank.

Best Soft Commodity Finance Bank
WINNER:	Fortis
Runner-up:	Garanti
Commended:	Natixis
2007 winners:	Fortis
Best Bank in Metals and Minerals
WINNER:	Natixis
Runner-up:	ING
Commended:	Garanti
2007 winners:	ING
Best Trade Bank in Central and Eastern Europe
WINNER:	RZB
Runner-up:	Deutsche Bank
Commended:	Garanti
2007 winners:	UniCredit

To read Trade & Forfating Review's complete survey of best trade banks, visit Trade & Forfating Review web page.

GarantiBank International N.V, ING Wholesale Banking and VTB Bank Europe plc (together the "Mandated Lead Arrangers and Bookrunners") and VTB Bank Europe plc as the Facility Agent are pleased to confirm that the above mentioned Facility for Close joint-stock company "First Ukrainian International Bank" ("FUIB" or the "Bank" or the "Borrower") has been signed on 19th June 2008. The Facility was oversubscribed and increased from the launch amount of US$30,000,000 to US$50,000,000.

The Facility, which pays a margin of 185 bps per annum, has a tenor of 364 days from the Drawdown date and will be used for trade financing purposes.

FUIB, registered at and regulated by the National Bank of Ukraine, is a commercial bank with its registered office in Donetsk, Ukraine. The Bank was established on 20 November 1991 and commenced banking operations in April 1992. FUIB, with its 11 branches and 117 sub-branches, is owned by SCM Finance, which is part of System Capital Management Group ("SCM Group"), one of Ukraine's largest industrial holding companies.

According to the Ukrainian banks ranking by the National Bank of Ukraine, FUIB is one of the largest Ukrainian banks ranked 13th by assets and 7th by total equity as at 31 March 2008. FUIB has a substantial experience both in the domestic and the international financial markets and strong credit and risk management procedures.

The Bank is rated B2 by Moody's and B by Fitch.

For further information please contact:

Masha Rokhlina GarantiBank International + 31 20 553 99 37

Richard Strong/Andrea Inancsi ING Wholesale Banking + 44 20 7767 6363/1054

Konstatin Vishnyak VTB Bank Europe + 44 20 7815 9479

Arap Turk Bankasi A.S. ,Banque de Commerce et de Placements , GarantiBank International N.V , Mashreq Bank and Turkiye Is Bankasi A.S (the "Mandated Lead Arrangers") are pleased to announce the signing of the Facility Agreement related to Syndicated Trade Related Club Finance Facility of USD 27,500,000 for CJSC "Alfa-Bank", established in Ukraine.

The Facility is structured as a club deal, carries a margin of 275 basis points and has a 1 year tenor.

For this Club Finance Facility, GarantiBank International N.V. acted as the Facility Agent.

CJSC Alfa-Bank registered in Ukraine in January 2001 operates in all key banking sectors, including retail, corporate banking, and arrangement and underwriting of corporate bonds. The Bank ranks among Ukraine's top ten in terms of assets.

For further information please contact:

Closed Joint-Stock Company "Alfa-Bank"
Mr Igor Tykhonov
Head of FI
Tel +380 44 490 46 00
itykhonov@alfabank.kiev.ua

On behalf of the Mandated Lead Arrangers contact:

GarantiBank International N.V.
Ms Masha Rokhlina
Senior Relationship Manager
Tel+ 31 20 553 99 37
mrokhlina@garantibank.eu

We are pleased to announce that the above transaction was signed in Amsterdam on Wednesday April 2, 2008. The Facility, launched at Euro 200,000,000, proved successful in syndication especially given the current turbulence of the global financial markets and closed over-subscribed. As a result, GarantiBank International N.V. elected to accept an increase in the facility amount to Euro 225,000,000.

The Facility was arranged by ABN AMRO Bank N.V., The Bank of New York, The Bank of Nova Scotia, BayernLB, HSH Nordbank AG Luxembourg Branch, ING Wholesale Banking, Intesa Sanpaolo SpA, London Branch, LRP Landesbank Rheinland-Pfalz (Member of the LBBW Group), Mashreqbank psc, Natixis, Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich Aktiengesellschaft, Standard Chartered Bank, UniCredit Group, Wachovia Bank, National Association, and WGZ BANK AG Westdeutsche Genossenschafts-Zentralbank (together the "Mandated Lead Arrangers" or "MLAs").

Banks in general syndication were approached by the Mandated Lead Arrangers to participate in the Facility at one of the following levels:

Title	Commitment	Participation Fee
Co-Arranger	Euro 5,000,000 and above	0.15% flat
Manager	Euro 2,500,000 and above	0.125% flat

The interest margin is Libor plus 0.30%.

Details of the Facility are as follows:
Borrower:	GarantiBank International N.V.
Amount:	Euro 225,000,000
Term:	364-days
Repayment:	Bullet at maturity
Purpose:	Export finance
Syndication Roles:
Bookrunners:	The Bank of New York, BayernLB
Facility Agent:	The Bank of New York
Documentation Agent:	BayernLB
Information Memorandum:	The Bank of New York
Publicity:	The Bank of New York

A full listing of participating banks is provided below:

Bank	Title
ABN AMRO Bank N.V.	MLA
The Bank of New York	MLA
The Bank of Nova Scotia	MLA
BayernLB	MLA
HSH Nordbank AG Luxembourg Branch	MLA
ING Wholesale Banking	MLA
LRP Landesbank Rheinland-Pfalz (Member of the LBBW Group)	MLA
Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich Aktiengesellschaft	MLA
UniCredit Group	MLA
Wachovia Bank, National Association	MLA
WGZ BANK AG Westdeutsche Genossenschafts-Zentralbank	MLA
Intesa Sanpaolo SpA, London Branch	MLA
Mashreqbank psc	MLA
Natixis	MLA
Standard Chartered Bank	MLA
American Express Bank GmbH	Co-Arranger
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A., Milan Branch	Co-Arranger
DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral-Genossenschaftsbank, Frankfurt am Main	Co-Arranger
The Export-Import Bank of the Republic of China	Co-Arranger
JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.	Co-Arranger
Citi	Manager
Salzburger Landes-Hypothekenbank AG	Manager

Despite the credit crunch and liquidity squeeze in financial markets, GBI Trade Finance Division closed 2007 with USD 7.75 billion annual transaction origination volume, 15% surge over the previous year. In the same period, GBI facilitated 13 million metric tonnes of physical commodity trade. Product clusters that are included into the transaction volume are Transactional Commodity Finance Loans, Documentary Credits & Collections and Structured Products.

Transactional Commodity Finance Loans and Documentary Credits & Collections products constituted 70% of 2007 transaction volume. GBI Trade Finance also provided other boutique solutions to its valued clients around the globe such as ship and project finance, local currency loans and SME financing.

Commodity finance deals with underlying international trade of semi-finished steel, agri-commodities, electronics parts, steel scrap, non-ferrous metals, chemicals, coal and alloys constitute 62% of the transaction volume. The single largest chunk of the transaction volume is related to products supporting emerging market local banks, mostly located in Black Sea, Caspian and Mediterranean basin countries, in the form of stand-by letters of credit, post or pre-shipment financing and syndications.

GBI Trade Finance has not only built over its strengths regarding origination capability but also delivered value through USD 1.7 billion secondary distribution. In this capacity, GBI's clients are both developed and emerging markets banks and corporations seeking boutique solutions.

GBI's representative office network expansion in 2007 towards Ukraine, Kazakhstan and China next to the existing presence in Germany, Switzerland, Romania and Turkey shall not only add value to our client relations but also enhance our risk management capabilities. Same shall be reinforced by the fortification of GBI's Legal Department in 2007.

As being one of the five Dutch banks permitted accommodating internal risk based approach under Basel-II since January 2008, GBI enjoys a favourable regulatory capital framework and its advantages on its trade finance activities.

While being on an upward trend, GBI's trade finance transaction volume in 2007 maintained its level of diversification in terms of country of repayment; 43% Developed Countries, 18% Emerging Countries and 39% Turkey. Also in 2007, GBI completed the groundwork of an additional stand-alone business line, namely Structured Finance including Islamic Finance, Ship Finance and Project Finance product lines, thus further diversification regarding assets and revenue base.

GBI, established in Amsterdam since 1990, is a "global boutique" bank. Two core businesses of GBI are Private Banking and Trade Finance.

GBI is Basel II Foundation-IRB compliant for credit risk as of 1 January 2008 and follows Standardized Approach for market risk and the Basic Indicator Approach for operational risk.

GBI benefits from advanced risk measurement and management practices in its day-to-day activities. This provides the Bank significant expertise and opportunity to enhance the risk management culture within the Bank as well as promotes the use of advanced risk management tools in decision-making and risk monitoring processes. As an IRB compliant bank, GBI has now the capacity to leverage the accumulated risk management know-how and the pre-established risk culture, which provides a more risk sensitive and transparent risk management framework for all of its stakeholders.

The Basel II project is defined and organized as a part of the current risk management organization. The day-to-day activities within the Basel II project are executed by the RMD. In 2006 and 2007 RMD, supported by a number of business segment specialists and external advisors, completed major design, development and implementation activities required to achieve Basel II compliance. All risk-rating models were reviewed, developed and implemented across all business lines in order to integrate the risk measures with the credit decision making process. During 2007, parallel runs and the supervisory review process have also been completed and the verification of De Nederlandsche Bank has been received to start the implementation.

GBI has fortified its Legal Department with the aim to add further value to its clientele on documentation and legal related issues. Especially Trade Finance, Private Banking and Structured Finance divisions shall be the internal customers of GBI Legal led by Nicholas Budd, a former partner at Denton Wilde Sapte and White & Case law firms, and Manolya Koprulu, formerly a GBI Credit Officer, who holds an LLM degree from University of Utrecht.

On August 6th, 2007 International Bank of Azerbaijan - Moscow ("IBA-Moscow") successfully signed a USD 50 million syndicated term loan facility. The syndication was launched at USD 25 million and the overwhelming response of the market resulted in an over subscription to the tune of USD 60.5 million. The borrower has capped the facility amount at USD 50 million.

The proceeds will be used for IBA-Moscow's general corporate purposes including trade transactions. GarantiBank International N.V. and ICICI BANK UK PLC were the Initial Mandated Lead Arrangers and Bookrunners.

Prior to the launch of general syndication, Banco Finantia S.A. and Mashreqbank PSC joined the facility as Senior Mandated Lead Arrangers. The syndication was signed with an optimum mix of 16 investors from 11 countries from Asia and Europe.

List of investors:

Initial Mandated Lead Arrangers and Bookrunners

• GarantiBank International N.V.
• ICICI Bank UK Plc.

Senior Mandated Lead Arrangers

• Banco Finantia, S.A.
• Mashreqbank PSC

Mandated Lead Arrangers

• Bank SinoPac, Offshore Banking Branch
• Banif - Banco Internacional do Funchal, SA
• DEPFA Investment Bank Ltd
• FBN Bank (UK) Ltd
• Mega International Commercial Bank Co. Ltd., Paris branch
• OTP Bank Plc
• The Economy Bank N.V.
• VakifBank International AG

Lead Arrangers

• Banque de Commerce et de Placements SA
• Caixa Geral de Depósitos S.A., France Branch
• Landesbank Berlin AG

Arranger

• Turkiye Is Bankasi A.S. Bahrain Branch

For further information, you may contact:

GarantiBank International N.V.;
Masha Rokhlina , Tel: + 31 20 553 99 37; mrokhlina@garantibank.eu

ICICI Bank UK PLC
Siddarth Rupani, Tel: +44 207 220 0138; siddarth.rupani@icicibank.com

Parallel to its growth strategy, GarantiBank International N.V. ("GBI") is proud to announce the launch of a new business line within the existing organisation. The new business line "Structured Finance Division" shall have the mandate to cover Project Finance, Marine Finance, Islamic Finance and Dutch Corporate Business. Effective August the 6th, 2007 Erhan Zeyneloglu has been appointed as the Executive Director in charge of this new business line. Erhan shall also continue to his role as an ALCO and Management Team member.

Erhan started his banking career in 1992 as a Management Trainee of Garanti Bank Turkey. He joined GBI in February 1996. After working in the Credits and Trade Finance Divisions for several years, he was promoted to the position of Executive Director of Credits Division in 2001 and had been heading this Division since then.

The above appointment indicate GBI`s dedication to healthy growth. Such growth shall not only be confined to core businesses such as Private Banking and Trade Finance but shall also be driven by related market segments boosting cross-selling and synergy.

Being a "global boutique", GBI is committed to providing best solutions to its present and future relationships. We shall continue supporting our clients and counterparts benefiting from GBI`s healthy growth.

Effective August the 6th, 2007, Sertac Kanan is promoted to take over Credits Division as the Executive Director. In his new position, Sertac shall be leading sovereign, bank and corporate credit functions and shall also become a member of ALCO and Management Team.

Sertac started his banking career at GBI Istanbul Representative Office in 1996. After working in Istanbul and Amsterdam Trade Finance teams, he was appointed as Head of Trade and Commodity Finance in 2001 within Trade Finance Division.

The above appointment indicate GBI`s dedication to healthy growth. Such growth shall not only be confined to core businesses such as Private Banking and Trade Finance but shall also be driven by related market segments boosting cross-selling and synergy.

Being a "global boutique", GBI is committed to providing best solutions to its present and future relationships. We shall continue supporting our clients and counterparts benefiting from GBI`s healthy growth.

GarantiBank International N.V. ( GarantiBank) has received "Quality Recognition Award " from Bank of New York for its outstanding payment formatting and straight through rate for USD payments during the year 2006. The award has been granted for GarantiBank`s achievement over 98% straight through processing rate for the payments sent to Bank of New York.

Click here for the newsarchive

• Home
• Site Map
• Contact Us
• Disclaimer
• Privacy Statement