Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has appointed Muhsin Atci, head of the nation's tax inspection board, as chief of Turkey's market regulator to help deal with an investment fund crisis that has rocked financial markets. Erdogan also appointed Ersin Basar Ekmekci as the Capital Markets Board's deputy chairman and Yasemin Girici as a member, according to an official gazette item published early Sunday.
As the board's head, Atci will help manage the fallout from a crisis that began when some investment funds defaulted on redemptions and sparked an investor exodus, triggering a stock market slump. Critics have questioned whether the agency, known as SPK, did enough to prevent what Turkey's justice minister has called a "Ponzi-like scheme."
Erdogan removed former SPK chief Mahmut Sutcu on Oct. 20 after about five months on the job. Prosecutors are investigating whether Sutcu's predecessor, Ibrahim Omer Gonul, failed to adequately supervise funds whose astronomical returns raised suspicions months before the turmoil began.
Borsa Istanbul's chief executive officer Korkmaz Ergun was detained by security forces late Saturday, state-run Anadolu Agency reported, without saying how it got the information. Ergun's detention follows the arrest of Taha Cakmak, former chief executive of state-run insurer Turkiye Sigorta.
Source: Bloomberg Markets · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing