Turkey Banking Watchdog Chief Kavcioglu Submits Resignation Amid Fund Scandal

Sahap Kavcioglu, chairman of Turkey's banking watchdog, said on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, that he had submitted his resignation to President Tayyip Erdogan. Kavcioglu, who leads the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency, known as the BDDK, said on X that he had asked for permission to step down in light of recent allegations concerning the agency and himself.

What Kavcioglu said

Kavcioglu said he took the step so that "our Agency would not suffer any further damage." In the wording quoted by Turkey Unfolding, he said: "I asked President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to relieve me of my duties so that our institution would not suffer any further damage." Central Banking reported the same move and noted that Kavcioglu is a former governor of Turkey's central bank. He has not been publicly identified by prosecutors as a suspect in the case, and it was not immediately clear whether Erdogan had accepted the resignation.

Kavcioglu denied allegations, cited by the opposition-aligned Sozcu newspaper, that he had money invested in investment funds under investigation or had taken bribes. He said the BDDK had nothing to do with the fund crisis, according to Reuters, citing Sozcu.

Officials jailed as the investigation widens

Senior BDDK officials were detained over the weekend and subsequently jailed pending trial as part of an investigation into transactions carried out in capital markets involving investment funds, Reuters reported. Turkey Unfolding named the arrested BDDK officials as Deputy Chairman Muhammed Erisen and department heads Bilal Soysal and Mustafa Alper Tas, three senior officials in total.

The arrests reached beyond the BDDK. Former Takasbank chief executive Yunus Arinci, who resigned earlier in November, was arrested with two other senior financial executives as the fund investigation widened. A former deputy chairman of the markets regulator, Enver Usca, was arrested over the weekend, according to Traders Union, citing Bloomberg. The investigation initially focused on transactions involving investment companies including Tera, Pusula, Destek and Hedef, amid allegations of market manipulation, bribery and irregular financial dealings, Turkey Unfolding reported.

The fund collapse behind the case

In September 2026, regulators ordered the liquidation of 131 funds managed by seven asset managers following warnings by some that they could not meet redemption payments. The liquidated funds had reached more than 20 billion dollars in assets over three years. Nearly half a million investors, including politicians, former officials and celebrities, had sought returns to offset a depreciating lira and high inflation, Reuters reported.

A separate allegation, stated as an allegation and denied

Former Agri mayor and ruling AKP politician Savci Sayan alleged on October 30 that Kavcioglu demanded 20 billion liras from businessman Emre Tezmen in exchange for arranging a 35 billion-lira loan through Takasbank. That is an allegation, not a finding. Kavcioglu rejected the alleged arrangement and filed a criminal complaint against Sayan. The BDDK said in an October 30 statement that the accusations were baseless.

From the central bank to the banking watchdog

Kavcioglu served as governor of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey from March 2021 to June 2023. Erdogan appointed him chairman of the BDDK on June 9, 2023, after replacing him at the central bank. His resignation request now leaves the leadership of the banking regulator open while prosecutors continue the fund investigation and while the question of whether Erdogan accepts the request remains unanswered in the reports.