Senior Attorney-at-Law Svetlana Todorova in Sofia and Managing Associate Eldar Mansurov in Moscow have been appointed co-leaders of Peterka & Partners' Turkish Desk.

Paksoy has advised Matriks Bilgi Dagitim Hizmetleri A.S. and an unidentified underwriter on the initial public offering of Matriks’s shares on the Borsa Istanbul stock exchange.

Akol Law has assisted both transportation services company Turex Turizm Tacimacilik Anonim Sirketi and ceramic tile producer Qua Granite Haya Yapi ve Urunleri Sanayi Ticaret A.S. on their initial public offerings at Borsa Istanbul.

Counsels Lucia Raimanova in Bratislava and Adam Fadian in Istanbul are among the 30 lawyers promoted to partner by Allen & Overy as part of the firm's global round, effective on May 1, 2021.

Over the last five years, Turkish payment services and payment systems have gone through turbulent times, with pressure both from competition authorities (demonstrated by BKM Express’ rollercoaster ride between 2016 and 2020) and financial market regulators. Though the power of incumbent banks remains strong, the market is liberalizing and opening up for fintech players.

On February 23, 2021, the Turkish Competition Authority (“Authority”) has published seminal judgments of the 13^th Chamber of the Council of State (“Council of State”). These are landmark decisions that upheld the Turkish Competition Board’s (“Board”) analysis within the scope of its decision regarding the allegations that Mey İçki San. ve Tic. A.Ş. (“Diageo Turkey”) violated Article 6 of Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition (“Law No. 4054”) through exclusionary practices in the vodka and gin markets (“Vodka and Gin Decision”). The decisions of the Council of State are of particular significance since they affirmed a very rare usage of the “ne bis in idem” principle (i.e., a legal concept that restricts the possibility of a defendant being penalized repeatedly on the basis of the same offence, act or facts with the same time period) in terms of competition law.

Gozde Kuscuoglu has joined BTS & Partners to lead the firm's FMCG and Retail department.

Turkish lawyers Candemir Baltali and Begum Yorukoglu have been promoted to Partner at CCAO in Istanbul.

Former Counsels Selahattin Kaya and Bora Ikiler have been promoted to Partner at the Balcioglu Selcuk Ardiyok Keki Attorney Partnership.

We were introduced with right to be forgotten (“RTBF”) in 2014 with Court of Justice of the European Union’s (“CJEU”) Google Spain SL and Google Inc. v Agencia Española de Protección de Datos (AEPD) and Mario Costeja González decision (“González decision”). Since then, it has become an essential part of privacy rights and had seen many applications all around the world.

Andersen Global has tied up with MGC Legal in Istanbul, giving it a new base of operations in the Turkish capital.

On December 15, 2020 CEELM gathered legal experts from across the region for its annual Year-in-Review Round Table conversation. In a wide-ranging discussion, participants shared opinions and perspectives on their markets, on strong (and less-strong) practices across the region, and the effect of the COVID-19 crisis on both, as well as on how technology is changing the legal industry, and what the industry will look like in 2021.

Balcioglu Selcuk Ardiyok Keki Avukatlik Ortakligi has advised Gulf Capital on the sale of its 70% stake in TurkNet lletisim Hizmetleri A.S., an alternative Internet service provider in Turkey, to the members of the Celebiler family and a fund of Re-Pie Portfoy Yonetimi A.S. ErsoyBilgehan advised the Celebiler family on that deal, and on the immediate sale of 40% shares in Turknet to Re-pie. Baspinar & Partners reportedly advised Re-Pie on the deal.

GKC Partners in association with White & Case has advised a consortium of lenders, including Ziraat Bankasi, DenizBank, HalkBank, and Yapi Kredi Bankasi, on their USD 1.1 billion financing of the restructuring of Turkey's Besiktas, Fenerbahce, Galatasaray, and Trabzonspor football clubs. Akol Law advised Galatasaray and Pekin & Pekin reportedly advised Fenerbahce.

Concern around carbon footprints, climate change, greenhouse emissions and compliance with environmental regulations and anti-bribery and corruption legislation has been on the rise over the last 20 years. More recently, that concern has expanded to encompass an increased emphasis on sustainable development in business operations and supply chains. The drive for more accountability and transparency from financial institutions, private equity investors and governments around the globe has turned the spotlight on disparities in terms of pay, gender and diversity, as well as the use of slavery in manufacturing. What started as discrete areas of focus and/or regulation, now firmly fall under the mainstream umbrella term, “Environmental, Social and Governance” (“ESG”).

Turunc, working with JPP Law, has advised Turkish/British digital employee-experience platform Sorwe on financing it received from Estonia-based Startup Wise Guys and Turkey-based TechOne. BTS Partners advised TechOne on the deal.

Yalcin Babalioglu Kemahli in cooperation with CMS has advised Discovery Inc. on its unspecified investment in BluTV, a Turkish provider of subscription video-on-demand services. Kolcuoglu Demirkan Kocakli advised BluTV.

For our Checking In feature, we reach out to partners and heads of practice across CEE to learn how specific practice areas are faring in their jurisdictions. This time around we asked Data Protection experts: Overall, how compliant would you say economic agents are with relevant local regulations on data protection, and what are the main gaps that have yet to be addressed?