Dear teammates, dear friends,
Our bank, which was established in May 2016 by making the largest direct investment in the TRNC banking sector at one time, received the approval of the TRNC Central Bank for the acquisition of all assets and liabilities of ING Bank operating in the TRNC in July and started its operations in early September to serve our dear friends. I would like to express my gratitude to my teammates and business partners who worked hard to both establish the bank and carry out the transfer transactions in such a short period of time.
I would like to thank the management and staff of the TRNC Central Bank for guiding us within the legal framework in this process, which was experienced for the first time in the banking sector.
At the beginning of 2017, we put our Nicosia Central Branch in front of our people with its new concept, and in early February, we put our Kyrenia and Famagusta branches into service. On the other hand, we successfully conducted negotiations with HSBC Bank A.Ş. officials for the acquisition of HSBC's TRNC operations with all its assets and liabilities, and in early December 2017, we incorporated HSBC Bank Cyprus and increased our number of branches to 7. The number of banks in the sector has decreased to 21 with this acquisition. I think I cannot be proud enough of our team, who worked until the wee hours of the morning, without creating the slightest dissatisfaction, and carried out a very large acquisition operation according to the TRNC scale in a perfect way.
When we set out to establish Albank, we discussed and clarified many issues and we set out as a team by prioritizing common sense. We needed to be different from the other 20 banks operating in the sector. We were aware that only with this difference we would be able to move towards our top three targets in the sector where 21 players operate. We set out by saying that we will not be ordinary, we will make a difference, knowing that our first priority is our depositors who entrust us with their savings. We did not enter the sector to be in the lower or middle ranks. We have created a team that will run a marathon, not a hundred meter run. We will try to fulfill our "corporate responsibility" duty by creating employment by blending our experienced staff we have created in Cyprus with the employment of new graduates.
We will draw strength from four main pillars as we march towards our top three targets in the sector.
The first of these four pillars is our strong shareholders. Thanks to the strength of our shareholders who believe in professional management and adopt the principle of investing in the right areas with the right staff, we entered the sector in 11th place in terms of paid-in capital.
The second is our strong human resources. We have formed our staff from people who have the experience and knowledge to guide their friends, who can act quickly, who are clear, articulate, honest and humble. Our experienced staff, '' It acts as a team that acts with the principle of "credit is paid with the project and cash flow, not with collateral", believes in the abundance of the loans it extends, and raises our young people who have vision and analytical thinking skills in this context.
The third is our strong technological infrastructure: Since we know that the superstructure of institutions without a strong infrastructure cannot provide the desired efficiency, we set out with an information technology company that provides software services to more than twenty institutions abroad.
Fourth, our friends who will support us. We will not work with customers, but with distinguished and selected friends who will grow with us. We will adhere to the win-win rule in our relationship with our friends. We will use our strong capital, strong human resources and strong technological infrastructure to provide better service to our friends.
With its financial and technical infrastructure, staff quality and targeted customer profile, Albank has always set out to be among the top three banks in the TRNC banking sector in terms of asset size, efficiency, service quality and customer satisfaction.
Since the first day of our establishment, we have implemented many social responsibility projects in line with the importance we attach to both nature and people. Among our projects, we can count the SOS Children's Village Sponsorship, which we contribute regularly every month, the Taşken Nature Park Sponsorship, the blood donation event we organize with all our staff every 6 months, and the Albank Memorial Forest we created in the Kurudere region in February 2020. We are proud of our memorial forest, which grows day by day with the saplings we plant for each new deposit account opened in our Bank and on behalf of our customers who give e-statement orders.
I would like to thank our friends who have supported us and will walk with us on this path we have set out on with excitement, hope and faith.
Best regards,
Şükrü CAN
Board Member and General Manager