Turkish firm Tera Portfoy says it is working to repay investors amid liquidation investigation (updated)

Turkiye Is Bankasi

20/09/2026 22:31

Adds Capital Markets Board's extension of liquidation process, paragraph 8
Tera says authorities' restrictions and blocks delay further investor repayments
Capital Markets Board orders Isbank and Ziraat to oversee liquidation of 131 funds
Justice Ministry says probe identifies $40 million in transfers to Switzerland-linked accounts
ANKARA, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Tera Portfoy TPYTI.IS, a Turkish portfolio management firm under investigation after some investment funds defaulted on redemption requests, said on Sunday it had repaid some investors and was working to repay others but that restrictions imposed by authorities were delaying the process. 
Authorities intervened this week to shore up market stability after a liquidity crunch at investment funds triggered a sharp selloff in Turkey's benchmark stock index .XU100. The measures helped the index recover some of its losses.
As part of the intervention, the Capital Markets Board (SPK) mandated Isbank and Ziraat Bank to oversee the liquidation of 131 investment funds managed by seven portfolio management companies, including Tera Portfoy, Pusula Portfoy and Hedef Portfoy, on the TEFAS electronic fund trading platform.
The crisis, which has rattled a major emerging market fund industry, has led to the detention of top executives from several firms and drawn scrutiny to concentrated bets in thinly traded stocks. Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said on Friday the problems are contained and will not pose a systemic risk.
"Redemption requests submitted during the period when inflows into our funds were being converted into investments surged within a short timeframe, evolving into a collective outflow demand totaling approximately 300 billion Turkish Lira" ($6.15 billion), Tera Portfoy said in a statement.
"It should be appreciated that meeting a demand of this magnitude within such a short period would not be easy for any financial institution," it said, adding that investors had been paid between September 16 and 18 but that further repayments were not possible "due to transaction restrictions and blocks."
It also said the firm was ready to cooperate with authorities to conclude the process as quickly as possible.
Late on Sunday, the SPK said it was extending the liquidation period given to Isbank and Ziraat Bank to six months from three months, "considering the portfolio structures of the funds subject to liquidation and market developments." It did not elaborate.
     
EXECUTIVES DETAINED IN PROBE
On Saturday, the Turkish Justice Ministry said that Pusula Holding Chairman Serdar Turhan, Tera Yatirim Holding Chairman Emre Tezmen and three fund administrators had been detained as part of the investigation, in addition to the four previously arrested suspects. Reuters could not reach Turhan or Tezmen for comment.
On Sunday, the ministry said it had identified a transfer of $15 million from Turhan's account to an account in Switzerland, and another transfer of $25 million from an account belonging to Muhammed Yariz, another executive at Pusula Portfoy Yonetim,  which is linked with Pusula Holding. Reuters could not reach Yariz for comment.
     The ministry added that Nihat Kirmizi, the chairman of the Doga Sigorta firm, was also detained as part of the probe.
($1 = 48.7725 liras)

(Reporting by Mirac Eren Dereli in Gdansk and Ece Toksabay in Ankara; Additional reporting and writing by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
((tuvan.gumrukcu@tr.com; @tuvangumrukcu))