LEGAL GLOSSARY
Capital market
The capital market is the market in which capital market instruments such as shares and debt instruments are issued and traded and in which savings are channeled through these instruments to companies and other issuers. Capital Markets Law No. 6362 does not define the market itself; it regulates the instruments, issuers, brokerage firms, exchanges and the powers of the Capital Markets Board (SPK). The purpose of the Law is to ensure that the market functions in a reliable, transparent and fair manner and that investors are protected.
Scope
Article 1 of Capital Markets Law No. 6362 (SPKn) sets its purpose as the reliable, transparent, efficient, stable, fair and competitive functioning of the market and the protection of investors. According to Article 2, capital market instruments and their issuance, issuers, capital market activities and institutions, exchanges, clearing and custody institutions, and the Capital Markets Board (SPK) are subject to the Law; issuances of shares by non-public joint-stock companies that are not offered to the public are outside its scope.
Capital market instruments are securities and derivative instruments, as well as other instruments listed as such by the Board (Art. 3/1-ş). Securities are shares and debt instruments, excluding money, checks, bills of exchange and promissory notes (Art. 3/1-o). With the provisions added by Law No. 7518 in 2024, crypto-asset service providers were also made subject to the Board’s permission and supervision.
Practical significance
A public offering, issuance of debt instruments or provision of investment services depends on the approval or permission of the Board; sale without an approved prospectus or issue document, and unauthorized activity in the capital market, are regulated as crimes in SPKn Art. 109. Companies whose shares have been publicly offered are subject to public disclosure and corporate governance obligations. For investors, carrying out a transaction through an institution authorized by the Board is decisive for benefiting from the protection mechanisms of the Law.
Commonly confused concepts
The capital market is not the same as the exchange: an exchange is one of the organized marketplaces, authorized under the Law and operating in an orderly manner, in which capital market instruments are bought and sold (Art. 3/1-ç); the capital market also covers issuances and transactions outside the exchange. In economic language, the concept is generally compared with the money market, where short-term fund transactions are conducted. Crypto-assets, on the other hand, are defined separately from capital market instruments in SPKn Art. 3; the Law applies to them to the extent specified in Art. 35/B.
Sources and scope
- Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye, Legislation Information System (Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi) — Law No. 6362, Capital Markets Law · Art. 1, 2, 3/1-ç, o, ş; Art. 109(accessed: September 24, 2026)
The explanation is for general information; a specific case must be assessed separately.