On 15.03.2018 Amendments to Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law has been introduced by Law No. 7101 and published in the Official Gazette. The most significant changes are as follows:
The Ministry of Trade introduced the Communiquéon the Implementation of Article 376 of the Turkish Commercial Code Numbered 6102 ("Communiqué") detailing the measures to be implemented in companies subject to technical bankruptcy.
What's New?
The Communique provides helpful guidance about how companies and their shareholders and management must address a company's financial distress.
The Ministry of Commerce issued a Communiqué on 15 September 2018 ("Communiqué") setting out the principles and procedures pertaining to the application of Article 376 of the Turkish Commercial Code ("TCC"). In brief, Article 376 regulates the measures to be adopted by joint stock companies and limited liability companies (for the purposes of this article, each a "company") in cases of loss of capital or insolvency.
The Financial Restructuring Framework Agreement (“Framework Agreement”) drafted by the Banks Association of Turkey (“BAT”) pursuant to Article 5 of the Regulation on Restructuring of Debts to Financial Sector published in the Official Gazette dated 15 August 2018 and No. 30510 (“Regulation”) has been approved by Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (“BRSA”) and has entered into force.
The recent volatility experienced in Turkish financial markets and in particular the devaluation of Turkish lira have brought many borrowers to the brink of default. This has prompted the Turkish authorities to take action. Accordingly, the Banking Regulatory and Supervision Authority in Turkey (the “BRSA”) has published a new set of restructuring rules, the Regulation on the Restructuring of Debts Owed to the Financial Sector (the “Restructuring Regulation”), which came into force on 15 August 2018.
The Communique on the Procedures and Principles regarding the Application of Article 376 of the Commercial Code (6102) was published in the Official Gazette on 15 September 2018 and entered into force on the same date. It determines the procedures and principles that will apply to certain companies (ie, joint stock companies, limited liability companies and limited partnerships whose capital is divided into shares) in cases of capital loss and insolvency.
Turkey has updated rules related to pledges on movable assets. Notably, all future legal interests in a movable asset will now be directly covered by a pledge, together with the movable asset. If a production process is pledged together with a movable asset used in the process, the pledge will now be deemed to have been automatically established.
The Law Amending Certain Laws for Enhancing the Investment Environment number 7099 (“Omnibus Law”) was published in Official Gazette number 30356 on 10 March 2018.
A range of legislative changes have been made in Turkey following the attempted coup on 15 July 2016, as well as changes to the structures and compositions of government, military and judicial bodies. Notable aspects for companies include bankruptcy suspension requests being deemed invalid during the national three month State of Emergency, as well as increased powers for guardians appointed to companies under investigation.
Bankruptcy postponement requests suspended
Turkey has tightened up its postponement of bankruptcy regime. Bad faith debtors would regularly exploit the prior legislative arrangements and court processes, using them to threaten or bargain with their creditors by depriving them of enforcement and execution avenues for a significant and uncertain amount of time. However, legislative amendments go a significant way towards evening up the balance between creditors and debtors in this area.