A parliamentary inquiry motion submitted by the YENİ Party to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) to investigate the causes of the "fund crisis," the losses incurred by investors and the public, and the responsibilities of regulatory bodies was debated. The motion was rejected in the vote by the votes of AKP and MHP deputies.
The General Assembly convened under the chairmanship of Deputy Speaker of the TBMM Tekin Bingöl. During the session where party group motions were discussed, Denizli Deputy Şeref Arpacı, speaking on behalf of the YENİ Party, criticized the legislative proposal regarding the fund crisis that had begun to be debated in Parliament and stated that an inquiry commission should be established.
Arpacı argued that the regulation in question did not address the scale of the crisis, stating, "This law, which began to be debated yesterday, is a complete fiasco; the mountain has brought forth a mouse, and an inquiry commission must be established immediately. This matter is too big to be cleaned up with a single law."
EMPHASIS ON INVESTOR CONFIDENCE
In his speech, Arpacı stated that confidence in capital markets had been damaged and expressed that investors would hesitate to confidently redirect the money they had saved for years back into these markets. He argued that the effects of the fund crisis could grow across the stock market, the private pension system, corporate bonds, and the private sector borrowing through financing bills.
YENİ Party's Arpacı also criticized the payments planned to be made to fund victims. Stating, "You cannot resolve this by showing the victims death and making them settle for malaria," Arpacı argued that the approach of paying the principal and inflation difference to those with less than 1 million liras would not be sufficient to resolve the grievances.
Arpacı also reacted to the words of Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek, who said, "One calamity is better than a thousand pieces of advice. Our money markets will emerge from this process stronger." Arguing that the regulation did not establish a permanent oversight and trust mechanism, Arpacı claimed that the proposal was prepared "according to the person and the situation."
Asking questions regarding fund liquidations, Arpacı stated that 18 out of 53 funds belonging to three companies had been liquidated, and the remaining 35 funds had still not been opened for trading on TEFAS. Arpacı demanded an explanation of how many people and what size of assets were involved in these funds.
Stating that the companies claimed the Capital Markets Board (SPK) did not grant permission for the funds to be opened for trading on TEFAS, while the SPK stated that the decision was at the discretion of the companies, Arpacı said, "Solve this, friends; there are too many victims here."
At the end of his speech, Arpacı also made a call to the President of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, stating that SMEs and businesses with money in the funds might experience payment difficulties. Following the discussions, the YENİ Party's inquiry motion was not accepted in the General Assembly.
News Source: 12punto
