TÜRKIYE Trends and Developments Contributed by: Selim Keki, Çisem Altundemir and Erkin Tuzcular, Balcıoğlu Selçuk Eymirlioğlu Ardıyok Keki Attorney Partnership
Digitisation of Corporate Books 2025 was marked by a digitisation trend in cor - porate maintenance. Corporate resolution books and share ledgers were traditionally kept in paper form. As of 1 January 2026, all newly established companies will be required to maintain their non-account - ing corporate books, including the share ledger, board of directors’ resolution book, managers’ resolution book, and general assembly meeting book, in electronic format. Companies in regulated sectors such as banks, financial leasing and factoring companies must maintain their corporate books electronically as of 1 July 2025. Existing companies that are not subject to the mandatory requirement may voluntarily adopt the electronic book-keeping system. However, once the transition is made, reverting to physical books will no longer be possible. This development is a welcome addition and will increase speed and security in corporate main - tenance tasks. Accessing the Central Registry Record System (CRRS) Via E-Government Mandatory for Domestic Users Trade registry applications are made online through a system called Central Registry Record System (CRRS). Login to this portal was pos - sible for both domestic users (Turkish citizens or work-permit holders) and foreign users via username and password credentials until 14 April 2025. This allowed users to share account access simply by sharing login credentials. How - ever, as of 14 April 2025, domestic users may only access their CRRS accounts via e-govern - ment portal or mobile signature.
Domestic users who are authorised representa - tives of companies and wish to authorise a third party to perform CRRS transactions on their behalf must grant authorisation to such third parties to initiate changes and/or submit them for approval in the CRRS system. Green/Sustainability Reporting Standards Türkiye introduced green and sustainability reporting standards, marking a key advance - ment in aligning corporate practices with envi - ronmental, social and governance (ESG) objec - tives. Under the new framework, companies that meet at least two out of three specific thresholds in two consecutive reporting periods are required to prepare and submit sustainability reports: • total assets equal to or higher than TRY500 million; • annual net sales revenue equal to or higher than TRY1 billion; and • total number of employees equal to or higher than 250. The regulation applies primarily to investment institutions supervised by the Capital Markets Board and joint stock companies who have issued capital markets instruments, and banks. Banks are obligated to comply with the reporting requirements regardless of whether they meet these thresholds. One exception is that banks owned by the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund are explicitly exempt from this obligation. While companies outside the mandatory scope are not required to report, they are permitted to do so voluntarily. Companies subject to mandatory disclosure must report on their sustainability- related activities undertaken during 2024, with submissions due in 2025.
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