Changes ahead for the stock exchange

ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency

President of the Istanbul Stock Exchange (İMKB) İbrahim Turhan says they are working on a new technology platform to link the bourse to global stock exchanges. AA photo

The President of the Istanbul Stock Exchange (İMKB) İbrahim Turhan has told the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce’s weekly economy newspaper that investors would be able to access global stock exchanges via the İMKB.

Turhan said that he was expecting the most comprehensive changes to the Capital Markets Law since 1992, and that with the new law they would be able to implement international norms and European Union (EU) directives. The changes were currently being worked on to allow this happen.

Turhan added that this new law would allow for the İMKB to become a private entity, and thus jump to another dimension and class.

“Just like the stock exchanges in the developed world, the İMKB is also going to be a company. After this point, its privatization and public offering will be on the agenda,” he said. Turhan also explained that going forward all market actions would take place under one umbrella and would not require different technologies or actions. He also added that presently there were not enough products available, but that soon there would be more choice, including Islamic banking instruments like sukuk rental bonds and trading in commercial products.

“We want to be the strongest stock exchange in the region,” said Turhan. He stressed that currently there were 374 companies trading on the İMKB and that they planned to increase this number to 1,000 and increase the number of investors from the current 1.5 million, which he said was too low. He also said that they were planning to encourage Small Medium-size Enterprises (SMEs) to join the exchange.