Turkey: Shareholders

A foreign-owned company in Turkey needs a registered address, but foreign ownership alone does not require a dedicated office. A virtual or serviced office may suit a remote business, while activities involving customers, stock, manufacturing or regulated services may require suitable physical premises. Choosing an address before incorporation means considering registration, official correspondence, tax office checks, banking and any applicable licences together.

Turkey offers foreign investors a large and diversified energy market, substantial renewable resources, a strategic position between producing and consuming regions, and a regulatory system that combines market liberalization with close administrative supervision.

Abstract This article examines the legal transition from private ownership to a public offering and continuing listed-company regulation in Turkey.

This article examines the establishment and continuing management of a foreign business presence in Türkiye. It compares subsidiaries, branches and liaison offices, and considers capital, corporate documentation, governance, representative authority, investment reporting, work authorisation and data protection. Judicial decisions concerning corporate organisation and management duties are considered in their relevant context. The analysis argues that the choice of vehicle should follow the proposed activity, ownership arrangements and expected life of the investment. Effective legal preparation connects incorporation with the company's subsequent compliance, financing, decision-making and exit arrangements rather than treating registration as the final objective.

Turkey's Capital Markets Board has introduced a comprehensive new framework for calculating free float ratios of publicly traded companies on Borsa Istanbul. The regulation establishes detailed criteria for determining which shareholdings should be excluded from free float calculations, including direct and indirect ownership structures through funds and other listed companies.

The Principle Decisions dated 03.09.2026 and numbered i-SPK.15.2 and i-SPK.81.1 (the “Principle Decisions”), published in the Capital Markets Board Bulletin dated 08.09.2026 and numbered 2026/57, have revised the minimum threshold for material event disclosures regarding changes in shareholdings and voting rights in companies whose shares are traded on the stock exchange, as well as the concept of shares in actual circulation and the principles governing their calculation.

The transfer of shares in a license-holding company operating in the natural gas market is not merely a corporate law transaction to be completed under the Turkish Commercial Code. Prior approval from the Energy Market Regulatory Authority may be required where, among other matters, direct or indirect share acquisitions cross above or below specified thresholds or privileges or usufruct rights are created.

Sermaye Piyasası Kurulu ("SPK"), 2026/54 sayılı Bülteni'nde yayımlanan 28 Ağustos 2026 tarihli ve 52/1589 sayılı (i-SPK 128.31) İlke Kararı ("İlke Kararı") ile borsada işlem gören halka açık şirketlerde borsa dışında gerçekleştirilecek pay satışlarına bazı sınırlamalar getirdi.

Enflasyon düzeltmesi sonucu ortaya öz sermaye kalemlerine ait enflasyon düzeltmesi fark hesapları ile yeniden değerleme sonucunda oluşan yeniden değerleme fonları, ilgili yasal düzenlemeler uyarınca ancak sermayeye ilave edilebiliyor; bunun dışında herhangi bir suretle başka bir hesaba nakledildiği veya işletmeden çekildiği takdirde, bu işlemlerin yapıldığı dönemlerin kazancı ile ilişkilendirilmeksizin, bu dönemde vergiye tâbi tutuluyor (1). Bu fonların/hesapların sermayeye ilavesi kar dağıtımı sayılmıyor.