TURKEY Law and Practice Contributed by: Sera Somay, Merve Kurdak and Doğa Pınarlı Dedebaş, Paksoy
Other Financial Institutions The regulatory requirements for banks do not apply to other financial institutions. However, other finan - cial entities are subject to their own sector-specific frameworks (eg, capital markets institutions and cryp - to platforms under CMB rules, payment and e-money institutions under CBRT rules, and insurance entities under Insurance and Private Pension Regulation and Supervision Authority rules) governing outsourc - ing and third-party service arrangements, which are based on similar principles such as retained regulatory responsibility, audit and access rights, data protection and business continuity. Consequently, agreements executed with third-party regtech providers must comply with such requirements. 10. Blockchain 10.1 Use of Blockchain in the Financial Services Industry In Türkiye, traditional players are increasingly will - ing to implement blockchain solutions and generally approach blockchain for (i) payment and monetary infrastructure, (ii) asset transfer and settlement, and (iii) identity/data verification and interoperability pur - poses. Several blockchain-implemented projects of tradi - tional players are listed below: • Takasbank BiGA Gold project: Takasbank, which is Türkiye’s central market institution providing services such as clearing, settlement and custody for capital markets and payment systems, has launched the BiGA Gold project. It is a blockchain- based platform operated by Takasbank that enables the issuance and transfer of physically backed digital gold via blockchain technology. It enables secure, traceable and near–real-time 24/7 gold transfers, with each digital unit fully backed by physical gold held in custody. • CBRT Digital Turkish Lira project: The CBRT is run - ning the Digital Turkish Lira project, shaping how banks may eventually connect to a state-backed digital money/payment rail. According to the Phase II Evaluation Report published by the CBRT, the Digital Turkish Lira project has progressed from
initial concept to a more mature prototype, with advancements in programmable payments, offline payments, interoperability, and integration with financial intermediaries, and subject to the comple - tion of Phase II and a policy decision on circulation, the project may proceed to Phase III, which would involve legal arrangements and potential issuance. • BIST blockchain-based KYC project: BIST launched a blockchain project to use a customer database based on distributed ledger technol - ogy (DLT). Under this project, the addition of new customers, updating customer information and document management are all handled through a blockchain network shared among BIST, Takas - bank and the Central Registry Agency (MKK), ensuring synchronised information flow and reduc - ing errors in data entry. • Despite their traditional operational frameworks, Turkish banks are embracing blockchain technol - ogy. Türkiye İş Bankası A.Ş. issued Turkey’s first digital Eurobond using DLT via Euroclear’s plat - form, achieving same-day settlement, and has piloted blockchain-based trade finance solutions through the Marco Polo platform. 10.2 Local Regulators’ Approach to Blockchain Regulators in Türkiye have not yet issued a single “blockchain law” or similar regulations. Significant legal reforms concerning crypto-assets and crypto-asset service providers were introduced in 2024 and 2025. However, gaps remain in areas such as stable crypto-assets and decentralised finance (DeFi). 10.3 Classification of Blockchain Assets Under Turkish law, blockchain assets are not regu - lated as a separate category of financial instruments. The legislative rationale of the CML states that the purpose of the law is not to regulate blockchain tech - nology itself, but rather to regulate the trading activi - ties of crypto-assets based on this technology carried out through platforms. The regulatory authority granted to the CMB covers only crypto-assets that provide rights specific to capi - tal market instruments.
895 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook