Do not invest more money than you can afford to lose.
The Turkish government has published in the country’s state gazette a ban on leveraged trading with forex brokers that are not regulated by the local Capital Markets Board (SPK). This means having a trading account and trading with such brokers is now illegal for Turkish citizens.
This is the latest obstacle for the forex brokerage in the industry in Turkey. Earlier this year the authorities introduced severe restrictions and lowered the maximum leverage to 1:10 and set the minimum required sum to open a forex trading account to TRY 50 000, or their equivalent in another currency.
Before the restrictions, the max leverage was 1:100 and could be offered to clients with at least TRY 20 000. The clients with smaller deposits had a maximum leverage of 1:50.
Since then, two major foreign brokers withdrew from Turkey – XTB and more recently Saxo Bank, leaving Phillip Capital as the only foreign broker on the market. There are also around 40 local forex brokers.
The most obvious reason for the departure of XTB and Saxo Bank were the new restrictions, though both brokers did not quote them as instrumental to their decision. Furthermore, Saxo Bank officials said they were intending to continue doing business in Turkey through partnerships and introducing brokers.
Now only time will tell whether and how the latest ban would affect the forex market in Turkey.
