The head of the Turkish banking watchdog said Wednesday that he had submitted his resignation after allegations, which he denied, of the authority's links to the country's investment fund turmoil.
"In light of the recent allegations concerning the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) and myself, I asked our esteemed President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for permission to step down," Şahap Kavcıoğlu said.
He said that he had taken the step so that "our Agency would not suffer any further damage."
Kavcıoğlu was reported as denying allegations in the media that he had money invested in investment funds under investigation or had taken bribes, saying that the BDDK had nothing to do with the fund crisis.
Senior BDDK officials were detained over the weekend and subsequently jailed pending trial as part of an investigation into transactions carried out in capital markets involving investment funds.
In September, regulators ordered the liquidation of 131 funds managed by seven asset managers following warnings by some that they could not meet redemption payments.
The funds had reached more than $20 billion in assets over just three years, as nearly half a million investors. Authorities are probing over 400 suspects.
The granting of banking licenses to certain companies and groups, which have been mentioned in a recent investigation conducted by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office into transactions within the capital markets, has become a subject of controversy.
Kavcıoğlu previously served as governor of the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) between 2021 and 2023.
