Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz on Monday said 17 of the investment funds ordered liquidated after last month's crisis were settled last week, and that talks on an ordinary liquidation of Atlas Pörtfoy should be finalized this week.

The scandal erupted in mid-September after several investment funds said they could not meet investor redemption requests during a market sell-off. That prompted authorities to launch a sweeping investigation into suspected price manipulation in a number of thinly traded stocks.

The Capital Markets Board (SPK) suspended trading in 131 investment funds run by seven asset management companies on the TEFAS electronic platform and placed them into liquidation. Nearly half a million investors were affected.

Three of the companies, A1 Capital, Bulls and Pardus, accepted ordinary liquidation terms, and payments to nearly 44,000 investors in their 17 funds were made last Thursday, Yılmaz told Anadolu Agency (AA).

Including a few thousand investors in closed funds at the same three companies, about 46,000 people have entered the ordinary process, he said. "No one has been left a victim" in the three companies, he noted.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) submitted draft legislation governing the liquidation of the funds to Parliament on Friday. Yılmaz said if the bill passes, fewer than 100,000 investors would be awaiting payment.

The largest company in the crisis is Tera, he said, followed by Pusula, Hedef and Atlas.

Talks with Atlas's owners are continuing, and Yılmaz said they could conclude this week. If they do, about 58,000 Atlas investors would be paid under the ordinary liquidation method.

Payouts could be completed this month

The bill before Parliament setting out the rules for extraordinary liquidation was shared Friday after being discussed by the newly created Fund Coordination Board and AK Party's parliamentary group.

Under the draft, Yılmaz said investors would get back principal of up to TL 1 million (about $20,000), calculated using the "net investment amount." In broad terms, this reflects the money an investor put into a fund, as opposed to profits, he added.

Anyone paid up to TL 1 million would later have their final rights and obligations calculated and offset against what they received, and the general rule still applies that whatever resources are collected will be shared out in the end.

The bill gives priority to money market funds and small investors, who make up the large majority of those affected, Yılmaz said. If it passes, he said, the number of investors still waiting would fall below 100,000.

Yılmaz said payments could be made within this month once the law is in force, and that all institutions had completed their technical preparations.

No state guarantee, no public money

Officials have repeatedly said no public resources would be used for the liquidations.

Yılmaz said funds, unlike bank deposits, have no state guarantee, and that the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) insurance structure covers banks only.

Investors in hedge funds sign a professional or qualified investor agreement that accepts both gains and losses, he said, and the three largest funds would be liquidated with their own resources.

The SPK has opened 131 accounts at the TMSF, one for each fund, plus a general account for people who traded in shares rather than funds.

Yılmaz said money would come from people who voluntarily return excessive gains and from the sale of assets belonging to companies or individuals who acted unlawfully. He said each fund's legal situation differs and must be examined one by one.

Returning money does not close the investigations, the vice president said. Legal responsibility remains for unlawful transactions, disruptive market activity and excessive profit-taking.

Judicial, administrative action

Yılmaz said the courts were taking effective action against those who harmed investors.

Many people, he said, were in custody, detained or under investigation, and the owners of the companies were being prosecuted.

He said he did not recall any main suspect having fled abroad. He said significant investigations were underway into people who made excessive profits.

On the administrative side, he said the SPK and the banking regulator BDDK had issued various decisions, and that new rules had increased transparency.

He said the funds with problems had been exposed by the new rules and then placed in "a kind of quarantine" through quick liquidation decisions so that the damage would not spread.

The State Supervisory Council (DDK) has also begun fieldwork with about 15 auditors and inspectors, he said, and will draw on experts from other institutions. The inquiry will reveal both institutional shortcomings and individuals' responsibility, Yılmaz noted.