Recent Developments In Turkish Capital Markets - February 2025

Mersis is an electronic trade registry, which is highly popular and a significant e-portal for attorneys and companies.

The information relating to Turkiye is provided for background purposes only. The information presented herein has been extracted from and is presented on the authority of various public official documents and private publications.

Turkey has moved from a largely unregulated crypto market to one of the more tightly supervised regimes in the region. For foreign investors, exchanges, and businesses holding digital assets with a Turkish nexus, understanding the current framework is no longer optional.

SPK, halka açık olmayan ortaklıkların halka arz başvurularını ilan edilen sıradan bağımsız olarak önceliklendirmek üzere üç alternatif kriter belirledi

With its decision No. 57/1708 dated 17.09.2026, the Capital Markets Board (the “CMB”) set out the liquidation procedures for the 131 investment funds established by Tera, A1 Capital, Atlas, Bulls, Hedef, Pardus and Pusula Portföy Yönetimi, whose liquidation had been ordered under its previous decision, and updated the relevant list of funds in the same decision.

The Capital Markets Board of Türkiye has introduced comprehensive regulatory reforms affecting hedge funds and portfolio management companies, implementing new investment diversification requirements, graduated ownership caps based on free-float ratios, enhanced capital adequacy standards, and stricter personnel qualifications. These changes, effective from August 2026, establish tiered compliance deadlines and fundamentally reshape the operational framework for Turkish portfolio managers.

This article examines the legal and practical framework for opening and operating a Turkish bank account as a foreign national or foreign-owned business. It distinguishes statutory customer-identification and anti-money-laundering duties from each bank's own customer-acceptance policy. The discussion addresses passports,

Borsa Istanbul’s BIST 100 index came under significant selling pressure over three consecutive trading sessions between 15-17 September 2026. The index closed down 5.54% on 16 September, a move that triggered Borsa Istanbul’s index-linked circuit breaker, and negative momentum continued into the morning of 17 September. The sell-off was primarily triggered by a default at Pusula Portföy Yönetimi A.Ş., a portfolio management company, which failed to meet investor redemption requests from certain funds it manages in a timely manner. A similar liquidity problem emerged at Tera Portföy Yönetimi A.Ş., and this situation put pronounced pressure on the shares of both companies as well as on broader market indices.

On 16 September 2026, the money market funds founded by Pusula Portföy Yönetimi A.Ş. defaulted after failing to meet the cash redemption requests received from investors, triggering a sharp sell off on Borsa Istanbul. The BIST 100 index lost 5.54% that same day and hit a circuit breaker; the selling soon spread to Tera Portföy funds as well. It became apparent that the problem was not confined to those two firms but also extended to Hedef, Atlas, A1 Capital, Pardus and Bulls Portföy.

Sermaye Piyasası Kurulu (“Kurul”) 17.09.2026 tarihli ve 57/1708 sayılı kararı ile, bir önceki kararında tasfiyesine karar verilen ve Tera, A1 Capital, Atlas, Bulls, Hedef, Pardus ve Pusula Portföy Yönetimi tarafından kurulmuş toplam 131 yatırım fonunun tasfiye usul ve esasları belirlenmiş, ilgili fon listesi de aynı kararla güncellenmiştir.

SPK, halka açık olmayan ortaklıkların halka arz başvurularını ilan edilen sıradan bağımsız olarak önceliklendirmek üzere üç alternatif kriter belirledi

With its decision No. 57/1708 dated 17.09.2026, the Capital Markets Board (the “CMB”) set out the liquidation procedures for the 131 investment funds established by Tera, A1 Capital, Atlas, Bulls, Hedef, Pardus and Pusula Portföy Yönetimi, whose liquidation had been ordered under its previous decision, and updated the relevant list of funds in the same decision.

Borsa Istanbul’s BIST 100 index came under significant selling pressure over three consecutive trading sessions between 15-17 September 2026. The index closed down 5.54% on 16 September, a move that triggered Borsa Istanbul’s index-linked circuit breaker, and negative momentum continued into the morning of 17 September. The sell-off was primarily triggered by a default at Pusula Portföy Yönetimi A.Ş., a portfolio management company, which failed to meet investor redemption requests from certain funds it manages in a timely manner. A similar liquidity problem emerged at Tera Portföy Yönetimi A.Ş., and this situation put pronounced pressure on the shares of both companies as well as on broader market indices.

On 16 September 2026, the money market funds founded by Pusula Portföy Yönetimi A.Ş. defaulted after failing to meet the cash redemption requests received from investors, triggering a sharp sell off on Borsa Istanbul. The BIST 100 index lost 5.54% that same day and hit a circuit breaker; the selling soon spread to Tera Portföy funds as well. It became apparent that the problem was not confined to those two firms but also extended to Hedef, Atlas, A1 Capital, Pardus and Bulls Portföy.

The Capital Markets Board of Türkiye (“CMB” or the “Board”), through its principle decision No. i-SPK.15.2 (dated 03.09.2026 and numbered 54/1614) (“Resolution”), has lowered to 3% the minimum shareholding disclosure threshold under the Material Events Disclosure Commu-niqué No. II-15.1 (“Communiqué”). The Reso-lution will apply as from the end of the day on 11.09.2026.

Sermaye Piyasası Kurulu (“Kurul”) 17.09.2026 tarihli ve 57/1708 sayılı kararı ile, bir önceki kararında tasfiyesine karar verilen ve Tera, A1 Capital, Atlas, Bulls, Hedef, Pardus ve Pusula Portföy Yönetimi tarafından kurulmuş toplam 131 yatırım fonunun tasfiye usul ve esasları belirlenmiş, ilgili fon listesi de aynı kararla güncellenmiştir.

Presidential Circular No. 2026/9, dated 17 August 2026, was published in the Official Gazette on 18 August 2026. The Circular requires public institutions and organisations to carry out the necessary work and provide the support needed to implement the Türkiye Artificial Intelligence Action Plan (the “Plan”), which sets out Türkiye’s artificial intelligence roadmap for the 2026–2030 period.

Türkiye Emisyon Ticaret Sistemi Yönetmeliği (“Yönetmelik”), 27 Ağustos 2026 tarihli ve 33353 sayılı Resmî Gazete’de yayımlanarak aynı tarihte yürürlüğe girmiştir. Yönetmelik ile 7552 sayılı İklim Kanunu (“İklim Kanunu”) uyarınca Türkiye Emisyon Ticaret Sistemi’nin (“ETS”) kapsamı sera gazı emisyon izni, izleme, raporlama ve doğrulama, tahsisatlandırma ve piyasa işleyişine ilişkin temel kuralları düzenlemektedir.

16.09.2026 tarihinde, Pusula Portföy Yönetimi A.Ş.’nin kurucusu olduğu para piyasası fonlarının yatırımcılardan gelen nakit iade taleplerini karşılayamayarak temerrüde düşmesi, Borsa İstanbul’da sert bir satış dalgasını tetiklemiştir. BIST 100 endeksi aynı gün %5,54 değer kaybederek devre kesici uygulamasına konu olmuş, satış dalgası kısa sürede Tera Portföy fonlarında da görülmüş; sorunun yalnızca iki kurumla sınırlı kalmayıp Hedef, Atlas, A1 Capital, Pardus ve Bulls Portföy’ü de kapsadığı anlaşılmıştır.

March 2022 – In February 2022, the Turkish Personal Data Protection Board (the "Board") issued two decisions and announced five data breach notifications.