Turkey’s financial markets have experienced a period of regulatory flux, with the Capital Markets Board (SPK) implementing and subsequently lifting bans on short selling on Borsa İstanbul. These measures, enacted to ensure market stability and protect investors, have coincided with broader economic and geopolitical developments, including regional conflicts and domestic political events.
In early March 2026, the SPK announced a temporary ban on short selling across Borsa İstanbul’s equity market, effective from March 2 to March 6. This decision was attributed to increased geopolitical tensions in the region and aimed to foster a reliable, transparent, and stable market environment while safeguarding investor rights. The ban also encompassed intraday positions that were opened and closed within the same day without explicitly using the short sell function.
Alongside the short selling prohibition, the SPK introduced flexibility in margin trading rules. The minimum equity protection ratio was temporarily lowered from 35 percent to 20 percent until March 6, provided brokerage firms’ risk policies and client demands supported such a move. Borsa İstanbul also reduced the Order-to-Trade Ratio (OTR) in the equity market from 5:1 to 3:1 until further notice.
In parallel, the Central Bank of Turkey announced its decision to suspend one-week repo auctions for a period, citing developments in financial markets. Furthermore, the bank initiated Turkish Lira-settled foreign exchange forward selling transactions to ensure the sound functioning of the foreign exchange market, prevent exchange rate volatility, and stabilize foreign exchange liquidity.
Later in the year, by August 2025, Turkish officials were reportedly planning to allow the short-selling ban, which had been in place since March, to expire at the end of the month. This move was intended to boost the stock market’s attractiveness to foreign investors. A recent surge in the benchmark index to record highs and the resumption of central bank interest-rate cuts were cited as contributing factors to this decision.
In a separate instance, a ban on short selling was imposed until April 25 following the arrest of an opposition leader, which had caused financial turmoil due to rule of law concerns. This ban was eventually lifted on January 2, 2024, after being in place for nearly two years since February 2023.