Atasay of Turkey to Collect Gold With Banks, Hurriyet Says
By Sibel Akbay Bloomberg News Monday, June 18, 2012
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-18/atas...-collect-gol...
ISTANBUL -- Atasay, a Turkish jewelry maker, will work with Turkiye Is Bankasi, the country’s biggest bank by assets, and Turkiye Garanti Bankasi, the biggest listed bank by market value, to collect gold jewelry from the public to be stored in gold deposit accounts, Hurriyet newspaper reported.
Atasay's 400 shops in Turkey will hand certificates for gold jewelry brought in by customers who open gold deposit accounts for the equivalent Turkish lira amount at the banks, Hurriyet said, citing Atasay chairman Cihan Kamer.
Atasay is also in talks with Turkiye Halk Bankası, the largest listed state-run bank, TC Ziraat Bankasi, the biggest state-owned bank, and Denizbank, a lender taken over by Russia's OAO Sberbank, to start similar arrangements, Kamer said, according to the Istanbul-based newspaper. Banking industry deposits have declined over the past year.
Turks have about 5,000 metric tons of gold "stashed under their pillows," Ozcan Halac, head of the Istanbul Gold Exchange, said in a Bloomberg HT interview on March 7.
