Nasdaq-listed Freedom Holding Corp. has completed the acquisition of a 99.32% stake in Turkish Bank A.Ş., marking its formal entry into Türkiye’s banking sector and laying the groundwork for an integrated financial and digital platform. The transaction was executed through its subsidiary, Freedom Finansal Hizmetler A.Ş., and the bank has been renamed Freedom Bank A.Ş. following the transfer of control.
The Acquisition Is Only the First Step
The deal was finalized after receiving approval from Türkiye’s Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) and the Turkish competition authority. Freedom Holding plans to strengthen the bank’s capital position, upgrade its IT infrastructure, develop digital channels, launch new products, and improve operational efficiency.
According to the BDDK, more than 120 million digital bank accounts have been opened in the country, with approximately 85% of the population using mobile banking. Turkish customers are already accustomed to advanced mobile-banking services, meaning the new platform must compete not only on product range but also on app usability, transaction speed, and overall customer experience.
Türkiye occupies a special place in Freedom Holding Corp.’s global growth strategy. The country serves as a geographical bridge between Europe and Asia and a strategic gateway connecting the world’s largest financial markets.
Why the Ecosystem Needs Its Own Bank
Freedom Holding Corp. began building its Turkish infrastructure in 2022 with the establishment of Freedom Finansal Hizmetler A.Ş., created to support investments in banking, insurance, capital markets, payment systems, and other financial-services segments. In 2025, after approval from Türkiye’s Capital Markets Board, Freedom Yatırım Menkul Değerler A.Ş. was formed as the group’s local brokerage platform.
The bank acquisition complements Freedom’s expansion into Türkiye’s capital markets. The group now has a banking platform on which to build its own ecosystem in the country. Banking services provide regular customer contact through accounts, cards, payments, transfers, deposits, and lending products, placing the acquired bank at the center of the future platform.
Testing Freedom’s Kazakhstan Model in Türkiye
In Kazakhstan, Freedom Holding has already built an ecosystem combining banking, brokerage, investment, insurance, payment services, e-commerce, travel, ticketing, and entertainment. The group plans to draw on this experience in Türkiye.
“In Kazakhstan, we built an ecosystem in which financial and everyday services operate through a single SuperApp, which has become the country’s fastest-growing digital service,” said Timur Turlov, founder and CEO of Freedom Holding Corp. “We are now bringing this model to Türkiye, where customers already have high expectations of their banks. Our task over the next few years is to strengthen the bank’s capital base and technological capabilities so that an ecosystem can develop rapidly around it.”
The group’s experience in Kazakhstan demonstrates that financial and lifestyle services can be combined on a single digital platform. Türkiye will show how successfully the model can scale beyond the home market.
Freedom Holding Corp. operates in 22 countries, including Kazakhstan, the United States, Cyprus, Poland, Spain, Uzbekistan, and Armenia, with its principal executive office in New York. Its shares trade under the ticker FRHC on Nasdaq, the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange, and the Astana International Exchange.
The company strengthened its financial position in fiscal year 2026, which ended March 31. Revenue increased 9% year-on-year to $2.19 billion, while net income more than doubled to $153.3 million from $76.2 million a year earlier. Total assets rose 33% to $13.16 billion. By March 2026, the Freedom ecosystem served more than 14 million customers.
In June 2026, S&P Global Ratings upgraded the credit ratings of four Freedom subsidiaries to BB- with a Stable outlook, while affirming the holding company’s long-term issuer credit rating at B-, also with a Stable outlook.