The highest-ranking official of the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency of Turkey (BDDK), Sahap Kavcioglu, has submitted his resignation this Wednesday, amid criticism directed both at his figure and at the agency itself over the crisis triggered last September, when several Turkish investment funds were unable to meet the requests for withdrawals and reimbursements from unit holders. The situation forced the Capital Markets Board (SPK) to intervene in a total of 131 investment vehicles.
"In light of the accusations of the past few days related to the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency and to me personally, I have asked our esteemed President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to accept my resignation so that our Agency is not further worn down," Kavcioglu announced through his social media accounts.
In an interview granted to the newspaper 'Sözcü' before making his departure public, Kavcioglu insisted that neither he nor his associates participate in this type of financial products. "Neither I, nor my family, nor any relative of mine has money invested in funds or in the stock market. Not now, nor in the last 20 or 30 years," he said.
The former governor of the Central Bank of Turkey, a position he held between 2021 and 2023, also stressed that the BDDK continues to be one of the most respected institutions in the country, attempting to distance the supervisor from direct responsibility for the investment funds crisis.