Following the launch of a military operation against Ukraine by the Russian Federation; EU, US, UK and several other countries began imposing broad economic sanctions against Russia. Another recent and critical sanctions is the European Council’s decision and regulation of March 2, 2022, which removes 7 Russian banks from the SWIFT system.

In Turkey, 2021 continued to be dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the various legal difficulties and ambiguities that it brought. This raised several questions on how to apply the Turkish data protection law and related legislation, in particular about how to properly process data on health, vaccination status, and PCR tests.

Despite uncertainty due to the pandemic, the pace of merger activity in Turkey has not decreased and merger control is still one of the Turkish Competition Authority’s (TCA) key enforcement areas. The Law on Protection of Competition (Competition Law) amendment in June 2020 was a milestone for merger control in Turkey as it changed the substantive test for assessment of mergers. Below are some observations regarding the adoption of the new test and the TCA’s recent approach to merger control and remedies.

Crowdfunding is a new generation funding and investment system which allows different individuals to invest in a project in exchange for shares or interest. Crowdfunding offers an alternative funding market that creates a win-win situation for entrepreneurs and investors.

Turkey is the world’s tenth largest agricultural producer and a hub for many top global players in food production. The country is accelerating the integration of sustainability principles into the sector’s growth strategies.

It is not often that a CEE law firm decides to expand beyond the borders of its home market. Seeking out clients abroad and maintaining a standard of quality service is not only taxing but may also prove harmful – if not planned correctly.

When much was happening around the world, especially with the global pandemic, we decided to start our firm – Guleryuz & Partners – in September 2020. We made a major investment ignoring all the current challenges, including COVID-19 and the sluggish Turkish economy.

After the Russian Federation had launched a military operation against Ukraine; the U.S., the EU, the UK, and a number of other countries began imposing broad economic sanctions against Russia. Those imposed by the United States are among the most economically effective sanctions.

One of the most important inventions of the 21st century is undoubtedly the COVID-19 vaccine, with respect to its affirmative effect on public health. Before its invention, humanity had been battling a substantial rise in the number of COVID-19 cases, and the vaccine managed to raise hopes of controlling the pandemic. Likewise, Turkey, especially the Turkish Ministry of Health, has taken a lot of steps towards having individuals become more conscious of the importance of vaccination, in an effort to decrease the number of cases. Recently, the total number of shots administered has reached more than 119 million.

An intermediary service provider is defined in Law No. 6563 on the Regulation of Electronic Commerce ["E-Commerce Law"] as "natural or legal persons that provide an electronic environment where others can conduct financial and commercial activities.” Electronic commerce platforms such as n11, Trendyol, GittiGidiyor, and Amazon, which are among the most important actors of electronic commerce today, are included in this definition under our legislation. In essence, these platforms mediate the contract's conclusion and performance by bringing buyers and sellers together via the internet. In this article, the liabilities of e-commerce actors as "intermediary service providers" will be discussed in light of recent Court of Cassation decisions.

Pursuant to the Protocol No. 15 amending the European Convention on Human Rights ["ECHR / Convention"], the time-limit for the application to the European Court of Human Rights ["ECtHR"] was reduced from 6 months to 4 months, effective as of February 1, 2022. Accordingly, once remedies available as per domestic laws are exhausted, the application should be filed with the ECtHR within 4 months following the final court judgment. Having said that if the court decision was adopted before February 1, 2022, the ECtHR application based on this decision will still be subject to 6-month time-limit.

On December 9, 2021, the Turkish Competition Authority (“Authority”) published its report entitled “Analysis Report on the Financial Technologies in Payment Services” (“Report”) which evaluates the effect of the use of financial technologies (“Fintech”) in the financial sector, the obstacles to innovation and competition in the relevant markets and the entry of big technology (“Big Tech”) companies (e.g., Facebook, Amazon, Google, Apple) into the market. The Report notes that Fintech includes: (i) innovative products and services that emerged in the financial sector as a result of the radical technological transformation, (ii) new entrants other than the incumbent players that offer these services, and (iii) Big Tech companies which started to offer financial services.

“Regulation on the Principles of the Asset, Right and Receivable Inquiry on the National Judiciary Informatics System” [“Regulation”] was published in the Official Gazette dated January 22, 2022 and entered into force on the same date. The Regulation basically sets forth the procedures and principles regarding the inquiry of the debtor's assets, rights and receivables via the information systems integrated into the National Judiciary Informatics System [the so-called "UYAP"].

Although it is the first thing that comes into mind, share acquisition is not the only way to acquire a target. Turkish laws allow acquisitions to be completed through a number of other methods such as asset acquisitions, business acquisitions and merger, depending on preference of the buyer. This article will explain the processes for the acquisition methods concerning joint-stock and limited liability companies covering the requirements for valid acquisitions and matters to consider.

A new law proposal amending certain provisions of Law No. 5651 on Regulation of Broadcasts via Internet and Prevention of Crimes Committed through Such Broadcast and Turkish Criminal Code is submitted before the relevant commissions of Grand National Assembly of Turkey (“TBMM”) and has been published on TBMM’s website on February 3, 2022.

Hande Karakulah has joined L'Oreal as Legal & Scientific Director in Turkey.

Corporate governance principles are essential in order to protect benefits of minority shareholders and investors. Appointment of independent members is one of the most important elements that ensure proper implementation of the corporate governance principles. As a part of corporate governance principles regulated under the capital market legislation, independent board members must be appointed by the companies who are expected to objectively supervise the company and enlighten the public if necessary. It is important to have an independent member who will execute his/her duties without being influenced in order to create reliable cooperation. 

Purchase price is invariably among the most contentious points during the negotiation phase of an M&A transaction. Especially in cross-border transactions, the buyer may wish to minimise risks by opting for alternative payment methods. One is these methods is “earn-out,” where a part of purchase price will be calculated by reference to the future financial performance of the target company.  Statistics pertaining to the year of 2020, indicate that earn-out clauses were used in around 27% of the acquisitions concluded in the United States. Also, earn-out clauses are frequently being used in share purchase agreements concluded in Europe. This is especially the case in deals involving start-up companies, where the uncertainty increases on the factors of target company's future performance and the buyer does not have any in-depth market experience.