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Shares of several major private banks in Türkiye fell by nearly 1% at the opening of Tuesday’s trading session after the country’s competition authority launched a formal investigation into banks and financial institutions over potential breaches of competition law.
Türkiye’s benchmark stock index opened Tuesday at 14,011.20 points, down 0.36%, while banking stocks fell by 0.8%. Among lenders, Akbank dropped by more than 1%, Türkiye’s largest private bank, Isbank, declined by 0.8%, and Yapi Kredi Bank slid by 1.1% shortly after the opening bell.
The decline followed a premarket disclosure from Yapi Kredi confirming an investigation launched by Türkiye’s Competition Authority. In its filing, the bank said the probe examines potential breaches of Article 4 of Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition in the labor market.
The provision prohibits agreements or coordinated conduct between companies that restrict competition, including practices related to hiring, wages, or other employment conditions.
The bank said the investigation involves multiple financial institutions and companies and is intended to assess compliance with competition rules governing labor market practices.
In a statement issued hours later, Türkiye’s Competition Authority said it has opened a formal investigation into 26 companies across the banking, participation banking, insurance, and information technology sectors over suspected labor market competition violations.
The authority said its preliminary review examined claims that the companies entered into employee non-poaching agreements and shared competitively sensitive information on hiring practices. It added that the evidence and findings gathered during the inquiry raised serious and sufficient concerns that competition in the labor market may have been restricted.
The probe includes major lenders such as Akbank, Albaraka Turk, DenizBank, HSBC, ING Bank, Kuveyt Turk, Odea Bank, Sekerbank, Turkish Economy Bank, Garanti BBVA, Isbank, Yapi Kredi, and QNB Bank, along with insurance providers Agesa, Aksigorta, Bupa Acibadem, and Katilim Emeklilik ve Hayat.
It also covers financial technology and software firms, including Albaraka Teknoloji, Architecht, Bilin Yazilim, IBTech, OBSS Teknoloji, Paycore, Softtech, Verisoft, and Vizyoneks, which develop banking software, payment systems, and IT infrastructure.
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Yapi Kredi also noted that the decision to open an investigation does not mean any violation has been confirmed or that penalties have been imposed, emphasizing that the process aims to determine compliance rather than establish wrongdoing. Authorities have not yet announced a timeline for the investigation or identified specific practices under scrutiny.
Banking stocks have remained a key driver of the Istanbul exchange’s benchmark BIST 100 index since the start of the year, climbing 23% on expectations of disinflation and an anticipated rate-cut cycle, despite easing momentum following January’s inflation uptick.
Most recently, U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs said in a research report that improving macroeconomic conditions and stronger fundamentals are supporting rerating potential across Türkiye’s banking sector, particularly for lenders with greater sensitivity to funding costs, as declining rates are expected to boost net interest margins.
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