Turkey's capital markets regulator, SPK, announced criminal complaints against numerous individuals for suspected manipulative trading activities involving three listed companies: Katilimevim Tasarruf Finansman (KTLEV), Gündogdu Gida (GUNDG), and Destek Finans Faktoring (DSTKF). These actions are related to Article 107/1 of the Capital Markets Law No. 6362, which prohibits creating misleading impressions about stock prices, changes, supply, and demand. The move follows a significant decline in Turkish stocks, with the Borsa Istanbul 100 Index falling as much as 5.7% and a two-day drop of 6.9%, the largest since March 2025.
The regulatory filing identified specific individuals involved in the alleged manipulative trading for each stock. For KTLEV, a total of 12 individuals were named in one complaint, and 28 in another. For GUNDG, 8 individuals faced complaints, and for DSTKF, one individual, Ibrahim Bekci, was named. The SPK also imposed temporary trading bans for two years on some of these individuals and canceled certain capital market licenses for the duration of the ban.
This regulatory action comes as the Turkish market experiences heightened volatility, exacerbated by redemption defaults at several asset managers. Tera Portföy Yönetimi AS announced that two of its funds, with combined assets of 366 billion liras (approximately $7.5 billion), failed to meet redemption requests. Earlier this week, Pusula Portföy also disclosed an inability to complete some payments to investors. These events have fueled concerns about broader liquidity stress within the country's fund industry and led to a sharp sell-off in Turkish equities.
