Capital Markets

Following the 2012 enactment of the new capital markets law, the Istanbul Stock exchange was merged with the Istanbul Gold Exchange and renamed Borsa Istanbul. Following a dismal performance in 2011, equity markets staged a dramatic recovery in 2012, with the dollar-based version of the Borsa Istanbul’s broadest index, the BIST 100, coming within 4% of its record high in January 2013. The government’s commitment to promoting capital markets and its generally practical approach bode well for the sector’s development. Although its ambition to develop Istanbul into one of the world’s top financial centres is lofty, the project is proving to be a positive catalyst for down-to-earth reforms that will be useful in the near term to strengthen markets. This chapter contains interviews with Vahdettin Ertaş, Chairman, Capital Markets Board (CMB); Ibrahim Turhan, Chairman and CEO, Borsa Istanbul; and Özgür Günerı, CEO, Finansinvest.