Alongside the ongoing investment fund crisis, Turkish regulators made two separate decisions this week concerning non-bank financial institutions. Both are worth watching if your business works with Turkish payment systems or insurance companies.
Papel: a payment licence revoked
The Central Bank of Türkiye published a decision in the Official Gazette revoking the licence of Papel Elektronik Para ve Ödeme Hizmetleri AŞ, an electronic payment institution. The decision was taken under the relevant Payment Services and Electronic Money Law.
Doğa Sigorta: all monetary assets frozen
The Insurance and Private Pension Regulation and Supervision Agency (SEDDK), by decision No. 1929 dated 21 September 2026, froze all monetary assets of insurer Doğa Sigorta AŞ held at financial institutions (account groups 10 and 11 under the chart of accounts). An official notice requiring prompt execution and confirmation of the freeze was sent to a wide range of banks and payment institutions, including the country's largest banks.
Why this matters even if you are not a client of either firm
Both decisions were taken in the midst of a broader confidence crisis in Türkiye's non-bank financial sector, but neither is formally connected to it or to the fund market manipulation investigation. That is itself a signal: Turkish regulators, the central bank over payment institutions, SEDDK over insurers, and earlier this month the banking regulator over Bank Mellat's banking licence, are tightening oversight across the entire non-bank financial perimeter, independently of one another.
The practical takeaway for businesses and individual clients is a standard one, but especially relevant right now: check the regulatory standing of any non-bank financial institution that handles your payments, insurance or savings, whether an e-money provider, an insurer, or an investment entity. Licence revocations and asset freezes happen without advance public warning to clients, and you often find out only after operations have already stopped.
What to do
If you use a Turkish electronic payment provider or an insurer outside the major banking groups, it is worth periodically checking the licensed-entity registries of the central bank and SEDDK. For transactions involving significant sums, it makes sense to spread the risk across several financial institutions rather than concentrating everything with one non-bank entity, particularly a smaller or less established one.
Want to check the regulatory standing of your Turkish payment or insurance provider, or discuss spreading financial flows across several institutions? Contact us.