Türkiye will crack down on market manipulation by "certain" investment funds with tougher penalties and new regulations, Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said on Tuesday in a stark warning to the country's financial sector.
Addressing a gathering of bankers and investors in Istanbul, Simsek said: "We know these manipulations are being carried out, especially through certain funds, and know there is a lack of regulation in that area. We will address this deficiency."
He did not specify which funds he was referring to in his speech to the Turkish Capital Markets Congress.
"In the fight against manipulation, we will make additional efforts to increase penalties and strengthen the regulatory framework," Simsek said.
Omer Gonul, head of the Capital Markets Board, later told reporters that it is considering raising manipulation-related fines and that one potential punishment is cancelling licenses in portfolio management.
Authorities have sharpened screening for manipulation in the past year. They have also detained dozens of people suspected of causing fluctuations in trading volumes and share prices in capital market instruments.
Years of soaring inflation have pushed Turks to find ways to protect their purchasing power, with some buying hard currencies and others turning to stocks and cryptocurrencies.
