Investment: Kursgewinne von 1000 Prozent: Türkei riskiert Abstieg aus Schwellenländer-Index – Fondsmanager fordern härtere Strafen

Turkey faces the risk of being excluded from MSCI and S&P Dow Jones' emerging market indices due to extreme stock price movements, which the index providers view as a sign of inadequate market transparency. Turkish investment funds are now urging the capital market watchdog, the State Securities Commission (SPK), to implement stricter measures against market manipulation.

Five fund managers managing some of the country's largest investment funds told Bloomberg they are advocating for stricter penalties and restrictions on hedge fund activities for certain financial instruments. Some of these proposals have already been discussed with the supervisory authority, the Ministry of Finance, and other government bodies, they said.

The SPK has not responded to the feedback so far. The watchdog previously sent reform proposals to investors in February, but declined to comment to Bloomberg. Gains of over 1,000 percent In recent years, the ratings of some - mainly small and illiquid - stocks rose by more than 1,000 percent. Certain high-yield funds have gained a large following among private investors.

While the leading index BIST 100 was among the world's strongest stock indices in the first half of 2026, much of the gains were due to price surges in a handful of stocks. Without more transparency in shareholder structures, Turkey could be excluded from the emerging market benchmarks, placing it in the so-called frontier market category, which is below the emerging market tier and attracts significantly less international capital.

The total market value of the companies in the MSCI emerging market index is $29.4 trillion, while the frontier markets index is around $700 billion - a ratio of over 40 to 1. "Obvious manipulation" The SPK must address "obvious manipulation currently taking place," said Murat Gulkan, CEO of OMG Capital Advisors. "The overarching responsibility of the supervisory authority is to maintain public confidence in the financial system," he said in a phone interview.

Another Istanbul-based investor, who wished to remain anonymous, expressed concern over the persistently high fund returns through allegedly manipulated stock prices, which attracted thousands of additional investors to such funds. Coordination among foreign investors with Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek in the previous month was also a topic, said informed persons.

The Ministry of Finance declined to comment on the matter. The SPK has imposed nearly 60 fines Under its new chairman Mahmut Sutcu, the SPK has imposed fines on nearly 60 individuals and institutional investors since May. Around 20 investors have been placed under trading or licensing bans, dozens more are under investigation. The SPK has also revised the calculation of the bid price, after MSCI removed some Turkish stocks from its index.

However, broader reforms are lacking, the fund managers said. The proposals include a ceiling for how much hedge funds can invest in shares of affiliated companies - currently no such limits exist. Gulkan calls for a full ban on such purchases and warns: "Conflicts of interest are just as pronounced in the bond and credit sectors.

If regulation only targets equities, it will be laughably easy to construct structured products that match direct equity ownership." Stricter penalties are also needed, said the other Istanbul fund manager. The penalties for stock manipulation must be so high that the attempt is not worth it.