INVESTMENT IN TURKEY
Setting-up a Joint Stock Company
 
1
Requirements in brief

A minimum capital of YTL 50,000 (approximately £20,000) is required. This is the total amount of capital, not the capital per person.

Number of founding shareholders (real persons or legal entities) must be at least 5 provided that there is no adverse provision in the special laws associated.

The company’s stock capital is divided into shares and a shareholder’s liability is restricted to the capital subscribed and paid by the shareholder.

A stock certificate is issued.

The mandatory organs of a joint stock company are General Assembly, Board of Directors and Supervisory Board.

2
Basic Steps

The establishment steps of joints stock companies, notwitstanding the special provisions of TCC and Capital Markets Law with regard to the gradual establishment of joint stock companies, are described as follows:

3
The Preparation of the Articles of Association and its Notarisation

It is obligatory that the articles of association of the company should contain the subjects stipulated in Article 279 of TCC, that

o it should be put down in written form and
o it should be notarized after being signed by the founders.

The following points have, particularly, to be taken into account while preparing the articles of association:

3.1
Founders

-Names,
-Surnames
-Addresses
-Citizenship (only for non-Turkish citizenship)

of the founders have to be listed.

3.2
Trade Name

The trade name of the company has to be determined in accordance with Article 45 of TCC so as to indicate the business activity of the company.

It is obligatory that the trade name has to incorporate the phrasing; “Anonim Sirketi” (which means Joint Stock Company).

In case it contains the name and surname of the real person, the phrasing that indicates the company type cannot be abbreviated or displayed in symbols.

Since the trade names of legal entities are protected all over Turkey, the designated trade name should not have been previously registered at any registry office.

The trade name should not carry an essence to mislead third parties with regard to the scope of activities, significance or financial status of the company, nor should contradict facts and public order.

The words

-Türk,
-Türkiye,
-Cumhuriyet and
-Milli

can be used in trade names provided that there is a decree of Council of Ministers approving such usage.

The trade name has to be in Turkish language. Any fictitious names present in the trade name have to be in Turkish language as well. The presence of foreign words in the trade name of a company may be permitted in cases,

o where these words do not contradict the law, the national, cultural and historical benefits;

o the name or brand promoting the goods or services constituting the business activity of the company is in a foreign language or there is/are foreign shareholder/s in the company.

3.3
Headquarter

The name of the province and district of the province in which the headquarter of the company is located, has to be specified in the articles of association.

Furthermore, the open address of the company has to be written in the articles of association. Thus, the article denoting the headquarter of the company should read as;

“The headquarter of the company is located in ………. . It’s address is; ……………. . In case of a change of address, the new address has to be registered at the Trade Registry and announced in the Trade Registry Gazette. Any notice served to the registered and announced address is deemed to have been served to the company. In case the company leaves its registered and announced address and does not register its new address within the stipulated period, the case is considered as the cause for termination.”

It is not obligatory to make amendments in the articles of association only for a change of address if the new address is within the same registry district. However, an amendment in the articles of association is necessary if the new address is located at a registry center different than the previous one.

3.4
Objective and Field of Activity

The field of activity in which the company is planning to operate should not have been prohibited by Article 271 of TCC.

A specific field of activity in which the company will actually be operating should be written in the articles of association, at least on sectoral basis.

The articles of association should not be written so as to cover all kinds of field of activity. Objectives and subjects of activity that can be written in the articles of association are limited with the subject specifed in the trade name of the company.

3.5
Capital

The capital of a company should be minimum YTL 50,000.

In accordance with Articles 279 and 300 of TCC, it is obligatory that the capital amount, the nominal value of each share and the method and terms concerning the payment of the capital to be paid have to be specified in the articles of association.

Accordingly, notwithstanding the provisions of special laws, it must be written in the capital clause of the articles of association of the company that

o the capital has been fully committed - free of any collusion - and
o 1/4 of the cash capital has been fully paid up or it will be paid up latest within three months following the establishment of the company, and
o the remaining portion will be paid up latest within three years.

Capital clause of the articles of association of companies which are obligated by special laws for payment of the whole or a fraction larger than 1/4 of their capital are to be arranged accordingly.

In the event that any rights, movable and immovable assets are being subscribed as capital at company establishment stage, this commitment has to be fulfilled latest within three months following the registration date of the company.

In case the goods and rights put in as capital are registered at a special registry (such as land registry office, registry of ships, traffic registry, industrial property registry), these have to be registered on the behalf of the company, latest within three months of establishment.

4
The Registration of the Company at the Trade Registry

The articles of association are first notarised and then registered at the Trade Registry Office where the company headquarter is located in or where the location of headquarter is associated with, within 15 days after notarisation.

The company becomes a legal entity by this registry. Items that require announcement after registry are announced in the Trade Registry Gazette. Documents indicated in Annex 1 (of the relevant Communique) have to be attached to the registration application.

Opening a LIASION OFFICE
Opening a BRANCH
Setting-up a LIMITED COMPANY
Transfer of Shares of a LTD COMPANY
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