From the Late Ottoman Empire to the Early Republic of Türkiye: Institutional Trajectories of Trade and Industry Banks in Türkiye (1910–1938)

Year 2025, Volume: 12 Issue: 2, 550 - 581, 13.08.2025

Ü. Serdar Serdaroglu

https://doi.org/10.26650/JEPR1704536

Abstract

This study investigates the institutional trajectories of the Turkey Trade and Industry Bank (TTIB, 1910–1914) and its Republican-era successor, the Turkish Trade and Industry Bank (TUTIB, 1924–1937), situating them within the broader dynamics of foreign-capitalised finance, nationalist economic policy, and regime change in Turkey. Drawing upon Ottoman and Republican archival records, contemporary press coverage, legal charters, and notarial documentation, this research reconstructs the banks’ founding contexts, governance structures, operational mandates, and sectoral engagements.

The analysis demonstrates that both TTIB and TUTIB embodied hybrid institutional forms that combined foreign, predominantly French, capital with domestic political legitimisation. TTIB functioned within the imperial-legal framework of the Second Constitutional Era, navigating capitulatory privileges and nationalist rhetoric. At the same time, TUTIB operated under the sovereign legal authority of the Republic, subject to the 1924 Banking Law, which codified modern joint-stock banking while enabling continuity from the late Ottoman templates.

TUTIB’s portfolio extended beyond conventional banking to include municipal finance, regional trade credit, large scale agricultural estates, and petroleum exploration, reflecting an alignment with both national development agendas and elite–capital networks. Evidence from liquidation and concordat notices between 1932 and 1938 reveals the persistence of institutional life well beyond the assumed endpoints, illustrating the concept of residual conti nuity in which legal and procedural existence outlasts commercial viability.

By adopting a comparative perspective, the study situates TTIB/TUTIB alongside other semi-peripheral banking models, showing that regime change did not dismantle financial infrastructure but selectively reconfigured it to serve shifting political and developmental priorities. These findings contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the Ottoman–Republican financial continuum, highlighting the adaptability of hybrid, transnationally embedded institutions within evolving sovereignty frameworks.

JEL Classification : N00 , B15 , B17

Keywords

Ottoman-Republican Banking , French Capital Networks , Turkey Trade and Industry Bank- Turkish Trade and Industry Bank , Institutional Continuity and Change , Empire-to-Republic Transition

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