Türkiye's banking regulator, the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK), has granted operational licenses for three new banks, according to a communique published Saturday.

According to the decision published in the Official Gazette, as per the BDDK’s decision, two investment banks, namely Marin Yatırım Bankası and Aytemiz Yatırım Bankası, and one digital participation bank, Adil Katılım Bankası, will be established.

Following examinations and evaluations under Articles 7 and 8 of Banking Law No. 5411, the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency has permitted the establishment of Marin Yatirim Bankasi and Aytemiz Yatirim Bankasi as development and investment banks, each with a capital of TL 1.5 billion ($46.59 million).

In addition, based on the evaluations under Articles 7 and 8 of the Banking Law No. 5411 and in accordance with Article 6 of the same law, the BDDK has approved the establishment of a digital participation bank, Adil Katilim Bankasi with a capital of TL 3 billion.

As of the end of March, 61 state/private/foreign lenders – including deposit banks, participation banks and development and investment banks – were operating in Türkiye.

The total assets of local banks stood at TL 25.9 trillion as of March, rising 9.9%, or TL 2.3 trillion, from the end of last year, according to the BDDK data.

The combined profit of Turkish banks increased 44.7% in the first quarter from a year earlier to TL 153.5 billion, the BDDK data showed earlier in May.