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Korkmaz Enes Ergun, the general manager of Borsa Istanbul, was detained Saturday as part of a fund investigation led by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, on allegations of taking bribes and membership in an organization formed to commit crimes.
The reports did not describe the conduct behind the allegations or the evidence against Ergun. They said the investigative procedures involving him were continuing, and no statement from Ergun, his lawyers or Borsa Istanbul was immediately available.
The prosecutor’s office has been running the investigation through its bureau for terrorism financing and money laundering crimes. It concerns capital market transactions and began with reports and complaints from the Capital Markets Board (CMB).
Authorities detained 26 people on Oct. 21, including executives from several portfolio management and investment firms, and issued an arrest warrant for Nusret Altinbas, the owner of Altinbas Holding. Turkish media reported on Saturday that 120 people were in pretrial detention in the case.
Trouble surfaced in mid-September, when Borsa Istanbul’s main index fell sharply and some funds said they could not pay investors. On Sept. 17, the CMB ordered the liquidation of 131 funds, which Turkish media said affected more than 455,000 investors.
Parliament passed a law on Oct. 22 allowing interim payments of up to 1 million Turkish lira to investors. Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek has said the problems were limited to a small number of funds and did not amount to a systemic risk. The CMB’s chairman, Mahmut Sutcu, was removed from his post on Oct. 20, according to Turkish media.
Ergun joined Borsa Istanbul in 1997, after graduating from Ankara University’s Faculty of Political Sciences. He later earned a master’s degree and a doctorate in economics from Marmara University. He served as deputy general manager in charge of listings before becoming general manager on March 26, 2021, succeeding Hakan Atilla, who had resigned earlier that month.
Borsa Istanbul is Türkiye’s main securities exchange, formed in 2013 through the merger of the Istanbul Stock Exchange, the Istanbul Gold Exchange and the Derivatives Exchange of Türkiye.
Detention in Türkiye is an early step in a criminal investigation. It does not amount to a formal charge or a finding of guilt.
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