Fitch: Turk Ekonomi Bankasi Likely to Gain on BNP Paribas Deal

Fitch: Turk Ekonomi Bankasi Likely To Gain On BNP Paribas Deal

LONDON/ISTANBUL/PARIS/NEW YORK, July 15 (Fitch) Fitch Ratings, the international
rating agency, says today it expects Turk Ekonomi Bankasi A.S. ("TEB") to
benefit if its strategic partnership with BNP Paribas of France ("BNP") is
finalised. However, Fitch will only announce any rating action when the deal is
completed, after it can review the new strategy, management structure and terms
of agreement.

TEB Financial Investment Company ("TEB FIC"), who owns 84.23% of the shares of
TEB, and BNP agreed to start negotiations on the acquisition of a 50% stake in
TEB FIC. If the negotiations are successful, the acquisition is planned to be
finalised by end-September 2004.

If the transaction is completed successfully, the acquisition of shares of TEB
FIC may not be sufficiently material to warrant a change in the French bank's
ratings, whereas the impact on TEB's Long-term local currency and National
ratings is expected to be positive. TEB is rated Long-term foreign and local
currency 'B+', Short-term foreign currency 'B', National Long-term 'A(tur)',
Individual 'C/D' and Support '5'. All the long-term ratings have a Stable
Outlook. BNP is rated Long-term 'AA' with Stable Outlook, Short-term 'F1+',
Individual 'B' and Support '1'.

BNP is the second largest French bank and the fourth largest in Europe by equity
of EUR34,103 million and had total assets of EUR782,996m at end-2003. BNP has a
strong international presence, especially in investment banking in Asia and
retail banking in the US and is interested in expanding its presence in the
Turkish banking market in line with its growth prospects.

TEB is a medium-sized Turkish bank, ranking 10th in terms of asset size among
the 18 privately-owned commercial banks in Turkey with total assets of EUR2,414m
and had EUR196m of equity at end-2003.

Contact: Botan Berker, Gulcin Orgun, Istanbul, Tel: +90 212 279 10 65; Eric
Dupont, Paris, Tel: +33 1 4429 91 31; Banu Saracci, London, Tel: +44 (0)20 7417
4373; Ed Thompson, New York, Tel: +1 212 908 0364.