Türkiye said on Tuesday it plans to complete the liquidation of about half of the investment funds caught up in last month's market turmoil by the end of this week.
The crisis began after several funds said they could not meet investors' redemption requests during a market sell-off. That prompted a wide investigation into suspected price manipulation in a number of thinly traded stocks.
The Capital Markets Board (SPK) suspended trading in 131 funds run by seven asset management companies and placed them into liquidation, affecting nearly half a million investors.
Seventeen funds run by three of the companies, A1 Capital, Bulls and Pardus, were settled last week, with a total of TL 6.4 billion (nearly $130 million) paid back to 43,643 investors, the Communications Directorate said.
The statement came following a meeting of the Fund Coordination Board, set up to oversee the liquidation process.
The three companies have 49 other funds holding a total of TL 34.1 billion lira, and the board aims to finish liquidating them this week, the directorate said.
If it does, all 66 funds run by the three companies will have been settled. They cover 45,745 people and TL 40.5 billion lira, in cash and in kind.
The statement said a bill meant to make the liquidation fair, transparent and effective, and to give payments a legal footing, was submitted to parliament on Friday. It is expected to be discussed on Wednesday at Parliament's Planning and Budget Committee. The bill gives priority to money market funds and small investors.
Once it becomes law, the aim is to complete interim payments quickly for the other 65 funds still in liquidation, the statement said. These belong to the four remaining companies, Tera, Pusula, Hedef and Atlas, which are due to go through the extraordinary liquidation process set out in the bill.
Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz, who chairs the board, has said the bill would provide for interim payments of up to TL 1 million of principal and that fewer than 100,000 investors would be waiting once it passes.
Prosecutors have arrested more than 80 people in a related investigation into suspected market manipulation.
