Turkey’s sovereign wealth fund has increased its stake in the country’s main stock exchange to more than 90% after acquiring the 10% share formerly held by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
The stake became available in October 2019 when the EBRD exercised its right to sell following the controversial appointment of Mehment Hakan Atilla as Borsa Instanbul’s chief executive, despite a conviction in the US for helping Iran to evade economic sanctions.
Despite the sale, the EBRD has stated that it remains supportive of alternative sources of finance and Islamic instruments and debt funds in Turkey.
According to Bloomberg, the Turkey wealth fund is planning to further increase its share in the exchange during 2020 with the aim of taking it public.
Meanwhile, a subsidiary of the exchange, Istanbul Clearing, Settlement and Custody Bank (Takasbank), has launched a digital gold trading platform called BiGA Digital Gold which will enable trading for gold-backed digital tokens via a private blockchain.
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