Polish FX brokerage XTB is proceeding with its plans to exit ‎the Turkish market and will be withdrawing its registration ‎with the CMB, according to a corporate statement.‎

XTB stated earlier in November 2017 that it may suspend its plans to ‎cease operations in Turkey until the end of the first half of ‎‎2018, as the listed company expected Turkey’s authorities ‎to retreat from a number of limits to the forex business ‎that were introduced earlier this year.‎

Join the iFX EXPO Asia and discover your gateway to the Asian Markets

But after the Turkish regulators had given no indication of their intention to ‎revise the significant limitations on forex ‎regulations, XTB has decided to put an end to its presence in the ‎country through liquidating its subsidiary X Trade Brokers Menkul ‎Değerler.‎

Despite gloomy conditions and uncertain prospects for Turkey, XTB is ‎accelerating its expansion plans and setting high targets for international ‎growth, particularly in Latin America, Africa and Asia.‎

XTB wrote to its shareholders that it plans to use its presence in Belize as a starting ‎point for expanding business in Latin American countries. Thanks to the ‎presence in Belize, the group can offer Latin American customers a region-specific ‎service and adopts its marketing strategies to local conditions.‎

XTB stated earlier that it expects that the CMB ‎initiative will significantly reduce overall activity in ‎Turkish retail forex trading. It also said that these drastic ‎changes to the regulatory structure have contributed to a ‎considerable decline in the number of customers and ‎consequently to a significant reduction in the activity of ‎XTB Group in Turkey.‎

XTB’s decision to withdraw from this market was also ‎based on the recent economic and political situation in ‎Turkey which, in the company’s opinion, has also affected ‎the business environment and triggered uncertainty in this ‎market.‎

XTB explains that due to the recent jump in Turkish lira volatility, the group is not able to ‎precisely estimate the financial cost of its decision, therefore it will be recognized in the future statements.‎

According to previous information from the XTB website, the ‎decision to shut down its Turkish subsidiary will affect the ‎current financial situation. Specifically, it will require that ‎the value of the shares of its Turkish unit be written off, ‎which equal PLN 9.7 million ($2.55 million).‎

Furthermore, the company has intended to separately ‎create another write-off of the value of its intangible assets ‎to reflect the shutdown of its brokerage activities license ‎in Turkey. This amounts to approximately PLN 5.6 ‎million ($1.47 million).‎