New giant wealth fund will be monitored: Minister

A new sovereign wealth fund formed by Turkish authorities will be audited and adhere to international standards, Finance Minister Naci Ağbal has said in response to criticisms that the new fund will be devoid of any oversight.

The fund will be audited in three stages, Ağbal said. 

"There will be an independent audit. Three audit officials, who will be appointed by the prime minister, will also be on duty, in addition to an audit mechanism by the parliament. Annual audit reports and another audit report prepared for the prime minister will be sent to parliament every year. The Planning and Budget Commission will audit all companies in the fund on an annual basis," Ağbal said in a televised interview with CNN Türk on Feb. 7. 

There will also be no change in the management and operational activities of Turkish companies whose stakes have been transferred to the fund, the minister added.

"The wealth fund will not be able to decide on the management of these assets on its own. We have just transferred the stakes of these companies from the privatization authority to the Turkish Wealth Fund," Ağbal said.

"The fund will be run in line with international standards. Every company has its own management board…The fund will never interfere with the strategies of these companies," he added. 

Turkey has transferred stakes worth billions of dollars in Ziraat Bank, Halkbank, the Borsa Istanbul stock exchange, Turkish Airlines and state-owned pipeline operator BOTAŞ, among others, to the new sovereign wealth fund, in a bid to help finance giant infrastructure projects. 

Ağbal said Turkey would become a key player in international projects thanks to a constructive synergy which has been unleashed with the addition of the...