Page 60 - TURKRptAug20

8.3.3 ​ ECM news
The Turkish Capital Markets Board (SPK) ​said​ on June 30 that it has lifted a ban on short selling for the top 30 shares on the Istanbul stock exchange. The ban is still in place for other stocks.
However, it later imposed bans on some brokerage houses due to short-selling.
The board banned short selling on all stocks listed on the Borsa Istanbul in February amid economic turbulence. The regulator has taken similar steps in the past in times of high volatility, including last year.
On June 24, Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) warned it might start a consultation process that could result in Turkey being removed from its Emerging Markets index and reclassified as a Frontier Market or Standalone Market due to the short-selling and stock lending bans in October 2019 and February 2020 respectively. It said the move might be made if the accessibility level of the Turkish equity market further deteriorated.
Borsa Istanbul ​said​ on July 6 that it had applied a temporary short selling ban on six foreign financial institutions because they failed to notify the authorities about short selling transactions last week.
Barclays Capital, Credit Suisse Securities and Merrill Lynch will be banned from short selling for three months while Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Wood and Company Financial Services will be barred for one month, Borsa Istanbul said in a statement.
The Turkish lira overnight interest rate in the London offshore swap market jumped​ over 60% following the short-sale ban.
“Having been warned by MSCI that its short-selling ban imperilled its status within the EM benchmark, Turkey suddenly lifted its ban [on BIST-30 components] but then took individual measures against the main players,” Rimmer wrote, following the latest short-sale ban on leading investment banks.
Authorities have already burnt bridges with foreign investors by drastically limiting their access to the currency and making it difficult from them to trade Turkish assets, Bloomberg noted.
On May 7, the banking watchdog BDDK briefly barred Citigroup, BNP Paribas and UBS from trading the lira altogether for four days until the ban was lifted on May 11, the news service recalled.
Foreigners’ share in Turkish domestic government bonds fell to as low as 4.51% as of June 26 from 4.58% a week ago.
8.4 ​International ratings
TURKEY - Rating agency
Jun-18
Jul-18
Aug-18
Jun-19
Jul-19
Nov-19
Aug-20
Bond rating: Moody’s
Ba2 (UR)
Ba2 (UR)
Ba3 (N)
B1 (N)
B1 (N)
B1 (N)
B1 (N)
Bond rating: Fitch
BBB- (S)
BB (N)
BB (N)
BB (N)
BB- (N)
BB- (S)
BB- (S)
Bond rating: S&P
BB- (S)
BB- (S)
B+ (S)
B+ (S)
B+ (S)
B+ (S)
B+ (S)
60​ TURKEY Country Report​ August 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com