Bourse may become joint stock company

ISTANBUL

The Istanbul bourse might be turned in to a joint stock firm next year, Erkan says. The government is planning a big change in the structure of the stock exchange AA Photo

The Istanbul Stock Exchange may turn into a joint stock company by the end of next year, according to Hüseyin Erkan, the chairman of the bourse.

Erkan said he may be reappointed as chairman when his term expires at the end of this year. The bourse head allegedly made the announcement during a meeting in Abu Dhabi, according to Bloomberg News.

An unexpected government decree on Nov. 3 shortened the duty duration of the board chairman from five to four, which terminates Erkan’s post by the end of this year.

Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan also aims to transfer the bourse into a regular company as soon as possible, Erkan said earlier last week during an Anatolia News Agency (ANA) interview.

The stock exchange will be reshaped in the hands of the government before being delivered back to the sector, Babacon said.

The bourse elected three new members from the private sector to its board last week, expanding the total number to seven.

One of the new members, Mehmet Osmanoğlu, last week told the ANA last week the bourse should be rescued from its current status which in not clear in terms of law, and continue as a corporation.

 “The sector, which materializes all the monetary support for the bourse, should not be turned into a customer of the corporate İMKB. There is only one thing we expect during this process: Justice and appreciation,” Osmanoğlu said in reference to the reforms.