If you’re after the best CMBT regulated brokers, you can benefit from the expert advice in our guide to the top brokers regulated by the CMBT. You’ll find everything you need on this page, including a brief history of the CMBT and how they affect your trades in Turkey today.
Not so very long ago, Turkey’s trading market was a little chaotic. There was a wealth of unregulated brokers creaming cash from Turkish investors. It’s always a worry for investors when they have little choice but to trade with this type of broker, but things have changed. Today’s trading market is all about regulation, and now it is the same in Turkey. For the Turkish market, CMBT are those regulators.
If you can’t find many CMBT regulated brokers, try some of the best CySEC regulated brokers:
- Hot Forex
- XTB
- HYCM
- XM
- Plus500
- FXTM
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Finding the best CMBT regulated brokers
Things have improved for traders in Turkey with the number of regulated Turkish brokers steadily increasing. Before the improvements in Turkish forex regulation, the markets were out of control. Brokers were taking investors’ money and giving very little back in return.
Nowadays, there is a much more formal market infrastructure, which is very good news for all of you. Traders can now quickly determine whether a broker is licensed and thereby make the best possible choice. It also seems the better-regulated, ever-expanding domestic trading market is now able to entice much bigger foreign brokerage firms to set up operations in the country, keen to cash in on the action. Before the regulations took hold, very few major players were interested in investing in Turkey, now there is an increasing number of CMBT licensed and regulated forex brokers to choose from.
What is the CMBT?
You’ve probably heard of the more well-known regulatory bodies such as the FCA, CySEC, and BaFIN, but have any of you heard of the CMBT? If you haven’t, don’t worry – we’re going to tell you all you need to know in order to locate the best CMBT regulated brokers.
CMBT stands for the Capital Market Board of Turkey and this is the regulatory agency responsible for the financial markets in Turkey. It monitors and manages the operations of the financial market, protecting consumers and supervising stock market participants.
The Board was created in 1982, but it is only more recently it has become very involved with CMBT regulated brokers. It was established following the Capital Markets Law in 1981 and has also been the subject of a number of additional laws and decrees which served to expand its functions. It’s not really necessary to mention them all but we should mention the most significant change followed Law No. 4487 which was passed at the end of 1999. A set of amendments were added to the Capital Market Law to expand the scope of the Board and its duties. The changes included making the markets more flexible and able to use information technology, allowing dematerialisation of stocks, and increasing protection for consumers.
What does the CMBT do?
The mission of the CMBT is to preserve fair, transparent, efficient and safe capital markets. It also aims to protect interests and rights of investors, allowing the general public every opportunity to participate in economic development. But how does it plan to achieve this? There are a number of different roles the CMBT uses to reach its goals:
Overseeing – All capital market participants are monitored including brokers in Turkey, publicly held corporations, stock and derivative exchanges, clearing and custody systems and other related agencies
Regulating – The CMBT establishes rules and makes changes where necessary to ensure the regulatory structure is flexible and able to adapt to new circumstances
Issuing – It issues guidelines in line with international standards
Monitoring and supervising – To reduce the risks of non-compliance and to ensure soundness of the financial market, auditing and rating agencies and firms, requesting annual reports and financial statements, imposing statutory filings and preventing market abuse
Encouraging – All participants to employ the best practices
Registering and approving – All publicly held companies and capital market instruments
Authorizing – Ensuring all organizations meet the qualifications required to operate
Enforcing – Collecting evidence through formal inquiries, examinations and other methods and any serious breaches brought before the Public Prosecutor
Licensing – Ensuring all professionals who work in the capital market institutions undergo licensing examinations to determine qualifications, knowledge, capabilities, and experience
Department of Intermediary Activities
The Board is divided into 12 different departments. Those of you looking to trade with the best CMBT regulated brokers will be interested in the Department of Intermediary Activities. This Department is responsible for reviewing and examining applications by intermediary institutions, including brokers in Turkey, and ensuring compliance with all requirements. It also regulates stock exchanges and other markets where instruments are traded.
The Department of Intermediary Activities provides advice. It also sets regulations regarding custody, settlement, materialization, and investor compensation schemes.
The future is definitely rosy for any Turkish investors looking to trade in foreign currency pairs. No longer is the industry unregulated, which means investors can rest assured there is far more protection.
What is a CMBT regulated broker, and when did they first appear?
Since 2011, forex trading and brokers in Turkey have been regulated by the CMBT. The Board also prohibits non-licensed brokers in Turkey from handling retail investors trades. The prohibition was introduced to limit the uncertainty which had taken hold of the forex trading market.
Initially, the news wasn’t taken very well by the unlicensed brokers, which made up a large section of the market. This was because it would mean having to comply with very stringent rules developed to regulate transactions. However, Turkish traders welcomed the new rules with open arms as they were tired of the uncertainties.
Previously, it had been a common occurrence for brokers to go bust and lose their clients money. The new regulations marked a decisive shift, as it was a requirement for licensed and regulated brokers to hold collateral in a settlement and custody bank.
Making a complaint about a CMBT regulated broker
There will inevitably be times when you feel it is necessary to lodge an official complaint with the CMBT. It’s easy to do; head to their official website and use the contact information to get in touch with them.
In recent years the CMBT has made a concerted effort to lodge its own complaints and lawsuits where necessary. For example, in 2011 they threatened to sue 32 forex companies. And, in 2019, they launched an investigation into a JP Morgan report. This shows that they take security seriously, and will listen to your complaint in the same manner.
How to check if a broker is CMBT regulated
Should you find yourself looking for the best CMBT regulated brokers, you can perform your own due diligence for peace of mind. The CMBT website has an easily-accessed list of licensed institutions, so it is just a simple case of looking down the list. Unfortunately, very little detailed information is available about the different licenses – but at least you can find out whether your broker has one, and when it was issued.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
CMBT stands for Capital Market Board of Turkey. They’re the organization that take care of Turkey’s biggest financial institutions, including all the best CMBT regulated brokers.
The Capital Market Board of Turkey has a wide range of responsibilities in relation to financial outlets. This includes regulation, issuing guidelines, distributing licenses and much more.
While the CMBT is not as famous as regulators in the USA or Germany, it is nonetheless an effective outfit which helps ensure trades are safe and secure. You should always avoid using unregulated brokers, which means that traders in Turkey should target CMBT regulated brokers.
It’s straightforward making a complaint to CMBT. Head to their website and follow the relevant links to get in contact and lodge your complaint, which they will deal with directly.
The quickest way to find out if a broker is CMBT regulated is to check their website. If they’re accredited, they’ll usually have their license number(s) in the footer of any page. But to make sure it’s 100% legitimate, you can also cross check it against the official CMBT list.