Turkey's Capital Markets Board filed criminal complaints against 38 people whom it barred from trading on Borsa Istanbul for two years over alleged manipulation of the shares of three listed companies, it said in a bulletin early on Wednesday.
The referrals, made under a law on market manipulation, relate to trading in the shares of Katilimevim BIST:KTLEV, Gundogdu Gida BIST:GUNDG and Destek Finans Faktoring BIST:DSTKF the regulator added.
Pusula Portfoy, a fund management company in the same group as Katilimevim, was also banned for two years, with its executives among those referred to prosecutors.
Pusula Portfoy could not be reached for comment outside of regular business hours.
Turkey's Tera Group had said it agreed to acquire Pusula Finans, which includes the fund managing unit, with the deal pending approval.
Pusula Portfoy said it had defaulted on some funds this week, after an exodus of investors following regulatory changes.
The stocks of all three companies cited by the regulator on Wednesday remain sharply higher for the year, despite recent losses.
Shares of Katilimevim are up more than 300% year-to-date, even after falling almost 59% over the past two weeks following changes by regulators to the way hedge funds operate.
Gundogdu Gida is up more than 140%, despite shedding more than 75% from a late-July high.
Destek Finans Faktoring, the bourse's second-largest company by market value, is also up more than 300%, after having pared 37% from its early-July peak.