Turkey has imposed a ban on short selling in its stock market and made share buyback rules easier. The decline in the stock market followed the arrest of the country’s main opposition leader, Ekrem İmamoğlu.
The Capital Markets Board of Turkey had previously limited short selling to the top 50 listed companies. Now, the ban will remain in place until April 25. Regulators have also allowed listed companies to buy back shares at prices higher than the last closing price and reduced the minimum equity capital requirement for margin trading from 35% to 20%.
The arrest of İmamoğlu, who was planning to run for president in 2028, sparked widespread protests and political unrest. This unrest caused the stock market to drop, with the Borsa İstanbul 100 Index falling by more than 13% since İmamoğlu’s arrest. The Turkish Lira also hit a record low against the US Dollar last week. As of the latest update, the BIST 100 Index had recovered by 3.5%, and the Lira was trading above 37.8 to the US Dollar.
