Turkey Detains Five in Investment Fund Liquidation Investigation
Turkish authorities detained five people over investment fund defaults, as regulators oversee liquidation of 131 funds and the finance minister says $18.3 billion in liquidations pose no contagion risk.
Turkish authorities have detained five people as part of an investigation into investment funds that failed to meet redemption requests, the justice ministry said on Saturday.
According to the ministry, those held include Pusula Holding Chairman Serdar Turhan, Tera Yatirim Holding Chairman Emre Tezmen and three fund administrators. Four other suspects have already been arrested, while all remaining suspects identified by the Capital Markets Board have been barred from leaving the country and had their assets frozen.
The detentions follow a week of intervention aimed at shoring up market stability after a liquidity crunch at investment funds triggered a sharp selloff in Turkey's benchmark stock index. The measures helped the index recover some of its losses.
As part of the intervention, the Capital Markets Board directed Isbank and Ziraat Bank to oversee the liquidation of 131 investment funds managed by seven portfolio management companies, including Tera Portfoy, Pusula Portfoy and Hedef Portfoy, on the TEFAS electronic fund platform.
Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said on Friday that the liquidation of investment funds worth $18.3 billion would not put pressure on Borsa Istanbul, adding that regulatory changes should prevent any contagion risk. He said authorities would continue to monitor the market closely.