In the fund crisis that has caused a stir in capital markets, it has emerged that some funds of the mentioned portfolio management companies received an opinion of "compliance with Islamic finance principles." According to a report by Serbestiyet, the documents issued for 10 investment funds belonging to Tera, Pusula, Hedef, and Atlas stipulated that interest, gambling, and "haram" (forbidden) transactions must be avoided.
The documents bear the signatures of members of the İKTİSAT Islamic Economics Research Foundation Advisory Committee and the İSFA Islamic Finance Advisory Committee, both of which provide opinions in the field of interest-free finance. One of the notable names is theologian Prof. Dr. Servet Bayındır, a member of the Presidential Economic Policies Board.
OPINIONS ISSUED FOR TERA FUNDS
The İKTİSAT Advisory Committee, founded and chaired by Prof. Dr. Bayındır, issued a sharia compliance opinion for the Tera Portfolio Roof Participation Real Estate Investment Fund on April 1, 2024, and for the Tera Portfolio Housing Alpha Participation Real Estate Investment Fund on January 1, 2026. The committee also issued a similar opinion for the Atlas Portfolio Participation Equity Free Fund on July 3, 2024.
The document issued for the Tera Portfolio Roof Participation Real Estate Investment Fund stated that the fund could engage in transactions such as real estate acquisition, installment sales, or leasing; it also permitted the fund to invest in sukuk, lease certificates, and investment instruments compliant with participation finance principles.
The document included a condition that the fund must "avoid interest, gambling, and other haram-qualified transactions" in its operations. In the conclusion section, it was stated that there was "no sharia-related objection" to Tera establishing the fund within the framework of the specified procedures and conditions without resorting to interest-bearing transactions.
In İKTİSAT's second opinion dated January 1, 2026, attention was drawn to certain expressions in the fund's articles of association that were not compatible with participation finance principles. While the document requested the correction of provisions such as "derivative instrument transactions" and "may engage in repo," it issued a compliance opinion on the condition that these are strictly avoided.
The same document noted that forward, swap, and futures-type derivative contracts could be included under certain conditions solely for hedging purposes. The documents also stated that the committee reserves the right to monitor the operation of the funds and cancel the certificate if any non-compliance is detected.
Responding to questions from Serbestiyet, Bayındır said that the committee's assessment was limited to the sharia status of the funds. Bayındır stated, "The fund's potential return rate, return guarantee, and future economic-financial risks are outside our expertise."
Bayındır stated that to date, authorization has been granted to Tera for only two funds, which are the Housing Alpha Participation REIF and the Roof Participation REIF. Bayındır argued that none of the funds under liquidation include those authorized by İKTİSAT.
Explaining that İKTİSAT received a "symbolic" donation from Tera, Bayındır said these donations were used for student scholarships. Stating that there is no connection between his position at the Presidency and the opinions provided, Bayındır said, "The opinions are sharia-based and have no relation to other positions held."
AUTHORIZATION FOR PUSULA 45 DAYS BEFORE THE CRISIS
According to the report, the İSFA Islamic Finance Advisory Committee also issued authorization documents for some funds belonging to Pusula, Tera, and Hedef. The document issued by İSFA on January 22, 2026, for the Hedef Portfolio Participation Equity (TL) Fund was among these.
Among İSFA's documents for Pusula Portfolio are the Pusula Portfolio Participation Free (TL) Fund dated January 8, 2024, the Pusula Portfolio Second Balance Participation Free Fund dated May 6, 2025, and the Pusula Portfolio Gold Participation Fund dated May 1, 2026.
It was stated that the last document issued by İSFA on August 3, 2026, for the Pusula Portfolio Second Participation Equity Free Fund was given 45 days before the fund crisis. This document included a condition that fund assets must not be used in derivative and leveraged transactions under any circumstances.
The names of Abdullah Köker, Dr. Mustafa Dereci, Prof. Dr. Osman Güman, Assoc. Prof. Dr. A. Numan Ünver, Yaşar Yalçın, and Assoc. Prof. Dr. M. Emin Durmuş appeared on the İSFA documents.
İSFA Advisory Committee member Assoc. Prof. Dr. Muhammed Emin Durmuş said that the duty of the advisory committees is to examine the funds' documents in terms of participation finance principles and foundations. Durmuş stated that the supervision of which companies or assets the funds actually invest in is not within the scope of the committee's sharia assessment duty.
While Durmuş announced that they "terminated the consultancy relationship" after the scandal, he did not specify which company the relationship was cut with or whether the authorization documents were also canceled. Regarding the question of whether İSFA received a fee, he said this was not in exchange for a positive opinion, but for expertise and review services.
Touching upon the inclusion of participation-based funds in the liquidation scope, Durmuş expressed that he does not find it correct to equate the developments in capital markets with the participation finance system. Durmuş emphasized that the authorization documents do not constitute a guarantee regarding the financial security of the investment, its return, or the operations of the portfolio management company.
News Source: 12punto
