Freedom Holding Completes Turkish Bank Purchase
The Nevada holding company closed its 99.32% stake in Turkish Bank A.S. on July 31, 2026, after a March agreement.
Freedom Holding Corp. (FRHC) completed its purchase of approximately 99.32% of Turkish Bank A.S. on July 31, 2026, closing a deal first agreed in March 2026 and extending its banking footprint into Türkiye.
The Nevada holding company, whose home market is Kazakhstan, said the transaction was intended to serve as a core platform for financial services in the country. It also remains in the process of seeking a brokerage license in Türkiye after a principal approval granted on January 9, 2025.
Banking remained the largest customer base in the quarter. Banking customers rose to 5,447,000 as of June 30, 2026, from 5,026,000 at March 31, 2026. Combined Banking segment assets increased 12% to $6,026.1 million over the same three months.
The deposit, trading and held-to-maturity portfolios reflected continued customer demand, growth in banking services, and increased investment activity. Deposits rose 20% to $3,033.4 million. The trading portfolio increased 31% to $2,266.8 million, and the held-to-maturity portfolio increased 21% to $521.5 million. The loan portfolio decreased 2% to $1,999.0 million, primarily due to loan repayments.
Freedom Bank KZ remains the core of the segment, with Freedom Bank TJ continuing a phased build-out after receiving its Tajik banking license in October 2024. FBG Company JSC, a Georgia entity, still had not commenced banking operations as of June 30, 2026, with its license application pending. The company continues to consider expansion of the banking segment into other jurisdictions.
Brokerage customers increased to 874,000 from 858,000. Other-segment customers rose to 1,498,000 from 1,105,000. Insurance customers fell to 924,000 from 1,117,000.
Freedom Life, the Kazakhstan life insurer, had 291,543 customers and 325,407 active contracts as of June 30, 2026, compared with 279,615 customers and 319,538 active contracts three months earlier. Total assets were approximately $784.3 million and total liabilities approximately $681.7 million.
Freedom Insurance, the general insurer, had 632,667 customers and 1,032,789 active contracts, down from 837,275 customers and 1,299,046 active contracts. The decrease was mainly due to the expiration of Motor Third Party Liability insurance contracts. Freedom Insurance’s total assets were approximately $264.9 million and total liabilities approximately $165.6 million.
The group had 12,100 full-time employees and 264 offices as of June 30, 2026, up from 11,846 employees and 230 offices at March 31, 2026. Banking employed 3,847 full-time staff, Insurance 1,289 people, Brokerage 2,076 people, and Other 5,367 people.
The company continues to develop telecommunications and media businesses in Kazakhstan, each described as being in a developmental stage. Freedom Telecom is the operating subsidiary for a planned independent telecommunications operator, with a strategy and budget that are evolving dynamically. Management expects the fixed wireless access grid to evolve into the backbone for a future mobile operator.
The Freedom SuperApp remains the front end for retail banking, payments, insurance and lifestyle services, with modules built on a microservices architecture and APIs to nearly one hundred government and commercial data sources. The app supports accounts and payments in KZT, multiple foreign currencies and Freedom Currency, an exchange-traded note linked to FRHC common stock.
The company is seeking to expand by developing telecommunications and cloud services in Kazakhstan and a regional media business in Central Asia. It also continues proprietary securities trading through each of its four segments.
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