The legend's new targets

Ever since he sold Finansbank to the Greek NBG everybody has been sure that HÜSNÜ ÖZYEĞİN would return to the sector. And now, as soon as the period stipulated in the agreement with NBG elapsed, he has returned. He bought Millennium Bank from BCP, which decided to withdraw from Turkey, and has established a new bank, Fibabanka. Fibabanka's game plan is ready. The bank will start with corporate and commercial banking and then add retail banking from 2012. Fiba Holding Board Chair Hüsnü Özyeğin says: "There is work for every bank and every banker in this growing sector." Özyeğin revealed Fibabanka's game plan to Capital for the first time.

Capital: You can't give up banking. Is it a passion for you?
- In fact, we could call it a passion but it is also a sector in which I have worked for 37 years. It is not just me, it is also the area where we feel best equipped as a team. On the other hand, in the last 15 years, we have sent many of our colleagues abroad. Today we have colleagues who have been working abroad for 8-10 years. Naturally, they want to return to Turkey. They don't want to spend all of their careers in Russia, Ukraine or the Netherlands. We have approximately 200 executives abroad. We had to acquire a bank in Turkey in order to hold on to our valued colleagues.

Capital: Where in Anatolia will you open your first branch?
- First of all, we want to make our existing branches productive. At the moment, outside İstanbul, we have branches in Ankara, Antalya and İzmir. We shall really begin to expand in Anatolia from 2012 onwards. In fact, the management of Millennium Bank did a lot of good things. They opened branches in very suitable places. We shall retain all of these but we shall change the business strategy a little. We shall recruit staff for commercial business and also for some corporate business. In this way, we shall be able to go after segments in those regions which have a different potential.

Capital: Did you look at other alternatives apart from Millennium?
- We did not evaluate any alternatives. In fact, Millennium was completely a piece of
luck for us. It was a bank of exactly the size that we wanted and the kind of structure we were looking to start with. I can't think of anything better than this.

Capital: What will be your game plan?
- At the moment, we are making preparations. We are evaluating the market. We know corporate and commercial banking but there have been several important changes in retail banking since we sold Finansbank. We are studying them. Once ourtechnology is ready, we are thinking of entering retail banking in stages.~

Capital: What will you do that is different from existing banks? Why will people prefer you?
- Speed and price are what is important in the provision of services. We shall also be competitive here.

Capital: Do you think that banking is attractive now and will be so in the future? What is it that draws you to banking?
- Turkey is expected to grow by 5-5.5 percent. If a country expands by 5 percent, then the banking sector grows by around 25 percent. A sector which contiııues to grow by 25 percent every year will continue to be attractive.

Capital: The sector is becoming increasingly competitive. How do you see the period ahead?
- This is nothing new. There will always be competition. But I believe that, because it is a growing sector, there will be business for every bank and every banker. And banking is a creative sector. It will generate new products. The new products will briııg new opportunities.

Capital: What are your plans for Fibabanka in 5-10 years?
- We don't have any such plans. We have weekly and monthly plans. We are operatiııg according to short-term plans here. As we have some infrastructure in Russia, we have some three-year plans. In Turkey, until we have raised our technology to a certain level, we can only talk hypothetically about the long term.

Capital: If the opportunity arises, are you thinking of buying a new bank?
- I am certainly not thinking of doing so. It costs $150,000 to open a new branch. You have to invest $75 million in a 500-branch bank. But you cannot buy a 500-branch bank for less than $1.5-2 billion. I always prefer organic growth in banking. This is how I always grew banks outside the country.

Capital: There are those who describe the new bank as "Mr. Özyeğin's second comeback". What kind of reaction have you received?
- To be frank, no bankers have called to congratulate me. I have a number of friends in the business community. They have offered their congratulations, saying that I did the right thing and that it was the right choice. There are no contacts with some. But, when I or someone from the bank's management goes to customers with whom we worked before, then they are all interested.