Turkey taps Muhsin Atcı to lead its Capital Markets Board following fund freeze

Turkey’s capital markets watchdog has a new regulator-in-chief: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has named Muhsin Atcı as chair of the Capital Markets Board (SPK), Bloomberg reports. Atcı, who spent 23 years in tax enforcement and has been leading the country’s Tax Inspection Board since October 2023, takes over a position that has been vacant for over a week since Mahmut Sutcu was dismissed on 20 October.

BACKGROUND- Turkey’s funds rout began in in mid-September when several funds couldn’t meet redemptions after the SPK launched a probe into suspected manipulation of thinly traded stocks and rolled out new regulations capping funds’ concentrated positions in a single stock’s freefloat. The SPK has since suspended 131 funds run by seven asset managers and put them into liquidation.