Winter/Spring 2019 Newsletter

As we approach our 30th anniversary as a firm, we are delighted to present you with the latest issue of our newsletter that we have been publishing for nearly two decades now.

Late 2018 was one of the most interesting periods for legislative developments in Turkey. In addition to the continuous legislative work being done to ensure a transition to a presidential system, there have also been bold legislative moves made to strengthen the economy that is still trying to recover after the currency fluctuations in late summer.

The prohibition against using foreign currency in contracts with Turkish residents, introduced through a presidential decree in September 2018, was without a doubt the most infamous legislative development in recent years. This prohibition was one of the few legislative acts to make headlines in the press. As of the date this newsletter was issued, the foreign currency restriction is no longer as strict as it was when it was initially introduced; however, there are still ambiguities in terms of the scope of its application. One of the articles in this issue addresses these ambiguities affecting the real estate sector.

Another attempt to heal the economy came from the Banking Regulatory and Supervisory Agency and the Banks Association of Turkey who put forward a framework agreement to provide a common ground for financial institutions and debtors to restructure outstanding debts. The rules concerning the remedies to be put in place when companies experience financial distress were also revised to implement an early warning system to help companies avoid bankruptcy.

The concordato mechanism, which has long been recognized under Turkish law, was recently revised to expand its application to individuals. After the revisions and most importantly, following the abolishment of the postponement of bankruptcy mechanism, concordato regained its popularity.

All of these concepts, which have become more relevant than ever during this period of economic hardship, are discussed in this issue.

While the recent legislative focus has been on economic remedies, with the aim of increasing transparency needs in capital markets, the Capital Markets Board has also taken steps to increase the quality of the content included in the periodic corporate compliance reports that publicly-traded companies must issue. In addition to this topic, in this issue we also take a comparative look at the use of social media by world-famous CEOs and whether the content they share complies with the disclosure requirements imposed by regulatory authorities. One of our articles takes you beyond established legal concepts and raises the question of liability within the context of the highly anticipated technology of self-driving vehicles.

We hope that you enjoy latest issue of our newsletter.

The Content of our Winter/Spring 2019 issue:

• Editor’s Introductory Note
• Steps Towards Healing the Turkish Economy: The Financial Restructuring Regulation and Framework Agreement
• New Corporate Governance Compliance Report Templates:  Efforts to Build Better Investor Confidence and Engagement
• The Story of a Very Expensive Tweet: Social Media and Public Companies
• New Rules Ensuring an Early Warning System for Financially Distressed Companies
• Self-Driving Vehicles: Who is the Liable Party?
• The Extraterritorial Scope of the Turkish  Personal Data Protection Legislation: Do Establishments Outside of Turkey Need to Comply?
• Strategic Environmental Assessment is Finally Welcomed in Turkish Legislation: What’s Next?
• Changes Anticipated in the Unlicensed Electricity Generation Regime
• The Once Forgotten Concordato has Regained Its Popularity – Is It as Naive as It Seems?
• How Does the Foreign Currency Restriction Affect the Real Estate Sector?