Türkiye's parliament has approved legislation creating a special liquidation and payment mechanism for certain investment funds ordered into liquidation by the Capital Markets Board, or SPK. The measure allows interim payments of up to 1 million Turkish lira based on investors' net contributions, while also establishing procedures to recover assets improperly removed from funds and pursue parties responsible for losses.
Which funds are covered?
The law applies to funds that the SPK ordered into liquidation on September 17, 2026, and whose liquidation remains incomplete when the measure enters into force. The bill published by parliament explicitly states that the framework does not create a general or permanent liquidation regime for other investment funds. Its provisions therefore apply to a defined group rather than the market as a whole.
Reuters reported on October 23 that 84 of the 131 funds initially frozen had already been liquidated. Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said roughly 390,000 accounts could receive payments after the law. That figure does not mean every account will immediately receive the same amount or recover all losses. Individual outcomes will depend on verified ownership, net investment and the resources available in each fund.
How will interim payments be calculated?
Under the measure, an investor whose net contribution is below 1 million lira may receive up to that net amount. An investor with a net contribution of 1 million lira or more may receive no more than 1 million lira as an interim payment. For funds other than money-market funds, the payment cannot exceed the total value of participation units recorded in the investor's account at the end of the previous day.
Ownership and investment amounts will be established through Central Securities Depository, or MKK, records. Liquidation will proceed under SPK supervision. The regulator will determine practical rules for identifying and converting fund assets into cash, valuation, payment order, interim distributions and final distributions. If available cash is insufficient to pay everyone at once, the mechanism provides for priority to smaller net investment amounts.
The interim payment is designed as a step before the final liquidation account. Receiving an interim amount will not erase an investor's remaining rights in the fund. A final distribution may follow after assets are sold and any recovered values are included. The first payment is intended to ease the immediate access problem, while the final account will reflect the actual outcome of the liquidation.
Recovery of improperly transferred assets
The law does more than set payment rules. Money, securities, property, rights or receivables transferred to related parties through transactions lacking a genuine economic purpose, or otherwise contrary to a fund's interests, may be treated as values improperly removed from fund assets. Legal steps may then be taken to recover those values and collect losses from parties found responsible.
The framework may cover transactions such as unsecured loans, advances, guarantees, transfers, purchases, sales, repos and reverse repos. Responsibility and recovery will nevertheless depend on examination of each transaction. Passage of the law does not by itself establish criminal liability or an automatic compensation order against any person or company.
What happens next for investors?
The legislation makes interim payments possible but does not by itself set a payment date or guarantee a specific sum for every investor. Implementation requires the measure to enter into force, the SPK to determine relevant procedures and covered funds, ownership records to be verified and distributable resources to be calculated. Remaining assets and amounts recovered through legal action may be distributed separately when final liquidation is completed.
Investors should therefore monitor official announcements from the SPK, MKK and the institution handling their fund's liquidation. The immediate significance of parliament's decision is that it opens an interim-payment route for people who have been unable to access their investments for more than a month and creates a special legal framework for asset recovery. It is not a guarantee of full and immediate reimbursement, but a mechanism intended to move the liquidation process forward.
