Competition law and data protection law are both regarded as essential parts of digital markets and the digital economy. Although they are two separate disciplines, these disciplines have started to overlap, especially when it comes to digital markets where the economic value of data has started to be discussed in conjunction with the concept of big data.

In its decision dated 01.06.2023 and numbered 2022/120 E. 2023/107 K., published in the Official Gazette dated 01.08.2023 and numbered 32266, Turkish Constitutional Court ["Court"] decided to annul the provisions regarding the deferment of the announcement of the verdict ["DAV"] institution regulated in paragraphs 5 to 14 of Article 231 of the Turkish Code of Criminal Procedure ["TCCP"] No. 5271.

The "green charging stations" have been introduced with the Regulation Amending the Regulation on Charging Services published in the Official Gazette dated 17.08.2023. Pursuant to the amendment, stations that have a Renewable Energy Resource Guarantee Certificate ["YEK-G Certificate"], an electronic document that providing evidence that all of the electricity supplied to the consumer per 1 MWh of electricity generated is generated from renewable energy sources, will now be defined as green charging stations.

According to the December 2022 Digital, Internet and Mobile Banking Statistics published by the Banks Association of Turkiye, the number of customers using active digital banking, mobile banking and internet banking services in Turkiye reached 94 million, with an increase of around 16.5 million in comparison to the previous year.

With its decision dated 23.03.2023 and numbered 2019/40991, published in the Official Gazette dated 20.06.2023 and numbered 32227, the Constitutional Court [the “Court”] ruled that the on-site investigation carried out at the workplace within the scope of the investigations conducted by the Competition Board without a judge's decision violated the inviolability of domicile guaranteed under Art. 21 of the Constitution.

In Turkiye, digital banking has become a hot topic in relatively recent times after the introduction of the Regulation on the Operation Principles of Digital Banks and Service Model Banking (Regulation), published in the Official Gazette dated December 29, 2021, issued by the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BRSA).

In The Corner Office, we ask Managing Partners at law firms across Central and Eastern Europe about their backgrounds, strategies, and responsibilities. Keeping in mind last year’s complexities and the uncertainties ahead, this time we asked: Has your team shrunk or increased in the last 12 months and what are your expectations for 2023?

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.