Türkiye's newly established board tasked with overseeing the rapid liquidation of investment funds caught in the recent turmoil said Friday that work had been carried out on draft amendments to the Capital Markets Law and that the relevant institutions had been instructed to finalize the proposed changes.
The statement followed a meeting of the Fund Coordination Board set up last week and chaired by Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz. The State Supervisory Council (DDK) has also been assigned to examine the issue.
The fund turmoil erupted last month after suspected price manipulation in a number of thinly traded stocks triggered heavy losses and redemption pressures at investment funds.
Almost half a million investors hold stakes in more than 100 investment funds with combined assets of $20 billion that authorities ordered to be liquidated in mid-September.
The board reviewed on Friday the results of measures already taken and discussed new steps, according to the statement by the Directorate of Communications.
It reviewed secondary regulations and a timetable for payments linked to decisions taken by the Capital Markets Board on Wednesday.
The SPK said it would begin making interim payments to investors in the funds that were ordered to shut down.
Investors in asset managers Tera Portföy, Pusula Portföy, Atlas Portföy and Hedef Portföy will receive their full net investment amount if it is below TL 1 million ($20,404). Investors whose net investment amount is TL 1 million or above will receive TL 1 million as an interim payment.
The procedure will start with money market funds, the SPK said.
Friday's statement said the draft amendments, on which work has been underway for some time, were also discussed. It stressed that the planned regulations should not impose any additional burden on citizens.
The directorate described the problem as arising in a "specific and limited" part of the fund market. It said work to resolve it would continue quickly and effectively, in line with capital markets rules and guided by fairness and equity.
The problems emerged in early September, when the SPK changed its guidelines for investment funds. Funds could no longer put all their assets into a single stock and were required to diversify.
The move sought to address concerns that many funds were heavily invested in a small number of obscure or hard-to-sell stocks.
To comply, some funds began selling holdings, which spooked investors and set off a rush to cash out. Several fund management companies then admitted they could not meet redemption demands.
On Sept. 16, authorities ordered 131 funds managed by seven companies into liquidation.
Top officials, including Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek, have sought to reassure markets, saying the turmoil does not threaten the wider financial system and describing the problem as limited.
Şimşek told investors on Thursday that authorities had moved quickly to contain problems and prevent them from developing into a systemic crisis, adding that further regulatory measures would be needed.
Speaking separately on Thursday, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said developments in the fund market would not pose a threat to the economy. He said authorities would not allow the issue to become a threat to Türkiye's economic security or social stability.
Prosecutors are also investigating. The SPK said some funds had caused price movements that could not be explained by company fundamentals, and it filed criminal complaints over alleged manipulative transactions.
Authorities have imposed travel bans and asset freezes, while arresting 65 people, including top financial executives, as of Friday.
