Korkmaz Enes Ergun, general manager of Borsa İstanbul, the country’s stock exchange operator, was detained on Saturday as part of the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office investigation into investment funds, Anadolu Agency (AA), Yeni Şafak, Diken and Karar reported.
Ergun was taken into custody on allegations of "membership of an organisation formed to commit crimes" and "bribery", according to AA, Diken and Karar. AA and Haberler.com reported that the investigation was continuing. The reports gave no details of the specific transactions the bribery allegation relates to, and no statement from Ergun or Borsa İstanbul had been reported at the time of writing.
The fund investigation
The probe concerns transactions in the capital markets and money flows between investment funds. On 17 September the Capital Markets Board (SPK), the market regulator, halted transactions in and ordered the liquidation of 131 funds run by seven portfolio management companies, including Tera and Pusula, Diken and Haberler.com reported. Executives and officials of companies linked to the funds have since been detained in a series of operations, according to Karar and Haberler.com.
Investors in the funds being wound up began receiving interim payments this week, as reported in our story on the start of interim payments to fund investors.
Dispute over warnings to the regulator
The exchange had been at the centre of a dispute with the SPK earlier in the investigation. Claims emerged that Borsa İstanbul had warned the SPK 130 times since 2025 about suspicious fund transactions, and the SPK said the figure did not reflect the facts, Karar and Haberler.com reported. In mid-October, Ergun told parliament’s Plan and Budget Committee that Borsa İstanbul had made its notifications to the regulator, according to the same two outlets.
Sources
- Sermaye piyasası işlemlerine ilişkin soruşturmada Korkmaz Enes Ergun gözaltına alındı (Anadolu Ajansı)
- Borsa İstanbul Genel Müdürü Korkmaz Enes Ergun gözaltına alındı (Yeni Şafak)
- Borsa İstanbul Genel Müdürü Korkmaz Enes Ergun gözaltına alındı (Diken)
- Fon soruşturması Borsa İstanbul’un zirvesine uzandı: Genel Müdür Korkmaz Enes Ergun gözaltında (Karar)
- Borsa İstanbul Genel Müdürü Korkmaz Enes Ergun, fon soruşturmasında gözaltına alındı (Haberler.com)
Photo: Thomas Steiner / CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons
