Paksoy has advised Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Thermal Systems on its acquisition of a stake in Form VRF Sistemleri San. ve Tic. A.S., its long-time distributor of air conditioning systems in Turkey. ADMD/Mavioglu & Alkan advised Form VRF Sistemleri on the sale.

Erdem & Erdem has promoted Mert Karamustafaoglu to Partner and to head of the firm’s Competition & Compliance team.

A. Introduction: On November 1, 2018, Personal Data Protection Board (“Board”), acting under the Personal Data Protection Authority, published its principle decision with number 2018/119 in the Official Gazette, which then corrected on November 7, 2018 (“Decision”). Board’s Decision is regarding prevention of promotional notifications, e-mail messages, text messages and calls that data subjects might receive from data controllers and data processors.

Burcu Okyay has been promoted to Partner at the Bener Law Office in Istanbul.

White & Case and GKC Partners have advised Yapi Kredi Bank, one of the largest private banks in Turkey, on its inaugural offering of USD 650 million Perpetual Fixed Rate Resettable Additional Tier 1 Notes. The global coordinators and joint bookrunners were advised by Allen & Overy and Gedik & Eraksoy.

Overall, 2018 was a more active year in terms of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) enforcement actions compared to 2017. In 2018, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) took a total of 40 enforcement actions, and the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) took a total of 14 enforcement actions.

Turkey has been undergoing significant changes recently, including reforms made to stabilize the Turkish lira and improve the dispute resolution process, says Duygu Gultekin, Partner at the Esin Attorney Partnership.

Inci Akin, Ayse Yazici Adanir, Sener Ozkan, and Kerem Aric have become partners at the Yazici Attorney Partnership in Istanbul.

Ugur Sebzeci and Can Ozilhan have been promoted to partner at Bezen & Partners.

In May 2017, Regulation (EU) 2017/745 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 April 2017 on medical devices (“EU Regulation”) entered into force, stipulating a transition period for medical device manufacturers to comply with the EU Regulation by May 2020. As the title of the EU Regulation suggests, it lays down enhanced rules on medical devices, manufacturers, distributors, importers, and notified bodies. For any medical device to be put into and sold on the market, full compliance with the EU Regulation is required. The EU Regulation introduces and addresses several new principles and renders procedures pertaining to medical devices more transparent, trackable and predictable. These changes aim to ensure a high level of safety and protection for patient health and for the users within this industry, also taking into consideration the technological evolution and developments in this field.

In September 2018, the Capital Markets Board (“CMB”) had issued an announcement on its website, declaring that a secondary legislation for crowdfunding was underway. Just recently, on January 4, 2019, CMB published the Draft Communiqué on Equity Crowdfunding No. III-35/A (“Draft Communiqué”). In the announcement, CMB states that the Draft Communiqué aims to ensure the effective penetration of the crowdfunding model into the capital markets legislation and create a regulatory framework for crowdfunding activities.

Norton Rose Fulbright has ended its affiliation with attorney Haluk Bilgic in Turkey and renamed its affiliate office in Istanbul, from the Bilgic Avukatlik Ortakligi (Bilgic Attorney Partnership), to the Inal Kama Avukatlik Ortakligi, reflecting its new management by Partners Ekin Inal and Olgu Kama.

Selin Barlin Aral has been promoted to Partner at Paksoy in Istanbul.

The Turunc Law Firm has advised Turkish chemicals maker Egesil Kimya Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. on a EUR 15 million loan from the EBRD to to increase production of precipitated silica, a key component of energy-efficient tires that reduce carbon emissions.

ELIG Gurkaynak Attorneys-at-Law has promoted Tolga Uluay and Burcu Can to partner, effective January 1, 2019.

“Just cause” is a term that is used frequently under the Turkish Commercial Code No. 6102 (“TCC”). In broad terms, “just cause” may be defined as a situation in which the relationship between a shareholder and the company and/or between a shareholder and other shareholders becomes unbearable or untenable for valid legal reasons. Although the term “just cause” is frequently employed under the TCC, Turkish lawmakers did not opt to provide an explicit definition of this term under the TCC and instead delegated this duty to the doctrine and the courts.

Paksoy and DLA Piper have advised Gurit, a company listed on the Swiss Exchange, on its agreement to acquire all shares in the JSB Group, subject to closing conditions.

Slovak lawyers Zoran Draskovic, Turkish lawyers Ceren Sen and Ates Turnaoglu, and the Czech Republic's Vaclav Zaloudek were included in White & Case's global local partnership promotions round, announced on November 27, and effective on January 1, 2019.