With the Regulation Amending the Regulation on Remote Identification Methods to be Used by Banks and Establishment of the Contractual Relationship on Electronic Medium ["Amendment"] [available only in Turkish] published by the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency ["BRSA"] in the Official Gazette dated 25.05.2023 and numbered 32201, the scope of persons who may use remote identification services has been expanded.

With the Communiqué on Principles Regarding Companies Whose Shares Will Be Traded on the Venture Capital Market [II-16.3] [“Communiqué”] published in the Official Gazette on 18.5.2023, the procedures and principles regarding the sale of non-public joint stock companies to qualified investors for trading in the stock exchange came into effect.

Contributed by Guleryuz & Partners.

Due diligence review, which is frequent in acquisition transactions, basically refers to an examination of the target company prior to the buyer's acquisition. This term originates from Anglo-American legal system, and Swiss-Turkish doctrine has yet to generate a new term and thus uses the term “due diligence” in their legal terminology.

Web scraping refers to several techniques used to collect data from the internet and is also known as screen scraping or data mining. With the web scraping method, the content available on someone else's website on the Internet is collected through software that simulates website browsing and is used on the scraper's websites or services. The best-known examples of web scraping are various price comparison sites, flight tracking programs, and news-curated websites.

Initially regulated as a voluntary mediation system, through its official introduction to our legal system with the adoption of Law No. 6325 on Mediation in Civil Disputes in 2012, such was later accepted as "mandatory" in labor disputes, then in commercial disputes, and finally in consumer disputes.

The Capital Markets Board [the "CMB"] introduced critical amendments to the sale methods and distribution principles to be applied to initial public offering of shares of non-public companies with the publication of its Decision No. i-SPK.128.21 [the “Decision"] on March 30, 2023. Accordingly, the relevant provisions of the Communiqué on Sales of Capital Market Instruments No. II.5.2 of the CMB will be superseded by the rules outlined in the Decision until a contradicting decision is made.

Data processing systems' convenience has led to emergence of new cybersecurity risks and methods for committing cyber-crimes, as well as a growth in such crimes, notably fraud. This is one of the unintended consequences of digitalization in the financial sector.

Did You Know that, according to the Activity Rankings function of the CEELMDirect website, two CEE lawyers have already authored or co-authored eight thought leadership articles published on the CEE Legal Matters website this year, more than anyone else in the region?

The obligation of e-commerce intermediary service providers and e-commerce service providers to obtain licenses from the Ministry of Commerce was introduced to our legal system with the “Law Amending the Law on the Regulation of Electronic Commerce" [available only in Turkish] published in the Official Gazette dated 7 July 2022, and thus has been amended by the Presidential Decree No. 6829 [available only in Turkish] published in the Official Gazette dated 23 February 2023 and numbered 32113.

Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition (“Competition Law”) applies to merger and acquisition transactions ("Transactions") since they may lead to consequences such as establishing/strengthening a dominant position or restricting effective competition in the market. Additionally, as per Communiqué No. 2010/4 Concerning the Mergers and Acquisitions Calling for the Authorization of the Competition Board ("Communiqué"), some Transactions are subject to the Competition Board's ("Board") approval. In this regard, the Turkish Competition Authority ("Authority") releases the Mergers and Acquisitions Overview Report each year to describe the overview of the Transactions examined within its body and thus provides a breakdown of the Transactions that took place in the market as along with a broad market overview. The Mergers and Acquisitions Report for 2022 ("Report") was published and made public by the Authority on January 6, 2023.

Contributed by Guleryuz & Partners.

With the Capital Markets Board Bulletin ["Bulletin"] numbered 2022/74 published by the Capital Markets Board ["CMB"] on December 30, 2022, the monetary amounts stipulated in the capital markets legislation regarding the public offering were increased.

The “Regulation on Electronic Commerce Intermediary Service Providers and Electronic Commerce Service Providers” ["Regulation"] was published in the Official Gazette no. 32058 dated December 29, 2022 and abolished the previous Regulation on Electronic Commerce Service Providers and Intermediary Service Providers published in the Official Gazette dated 26.08.2015 and numbered 29457.

In its judgment dated June 28, 2022 and numbered 2018/6161, published in the Official Gazette dated December 20, 2022 and numbered 32049, the Constitutional Court ruled against the GSM operator that had rejected to provide phone line records upon the GSM owner’s request, on the grounds that as a result of such rejection, the right to effective remedy in connection with the right to request the protection of personal data within the framework of the right to respect for private life was violated.

Pursuant to the Regulation on Unlicensed Electricity Production in Electricity Markets [“Regulation”] [available in Turkish only], it is possible to generate electricity without being obliged to obtain a license / pre-license from the Energy Market Regulatory Authority [“EMRA”] or incorporate a company. Accordingly, the consumers can meet their electricity needs from their own generation facilities that are in the vicinity of the consumption points and sell the surplus electricity limited to the previous year's consumption.

The Decree on the Determination of the Companies Subject to Independent Audit ["Decree"] No. 6434 published in the Official Gazette dated November 30, 2022 and numbered 32029, abolished the Decree on the Determination of the Companies Subject to Independent Audit No. 2018/11597 dated March 26, 2018, published in the Official Gazette dated May 26, 2018 and numbered 30432, and amended the thresholds of the criteria for determining the companies subject to independent audit while also amending the scope. These amendments aim to adapt the scope of independent audit to today's needs and to harmonize with the EU regulations.

The requirement of social isolation caused by the global pandemic, has brought forth a new world order. During this period, workplaces invested in technology in order to preserve their business and enhance their productivity while starting to conduct almost all their activities through digital communication channels. Home offices/remote work that began during such period now became a permanent working model across different sectors.