Legal Glossary

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.

A composition with creditors (konkordato) is a judicial procedure that allows a debtor who cannot pay its debts when they fall due, or is in danger of being unable to pay them, to restructure those debts through a plan that mostly offers creditors extended maturities or reductions. The plan becomes binding if it is accepted by the majority of creditors required by law and confirmed by the court (tasdik). It is regulated in Articles 285 et seq. of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law (İİK). The process runs under the supervision of a composition commissioner appointed by the court; during the moratorium (mühlet) granted by the court, enforcement proceedings are, as a rule, suspended. The aim is mostly to avoid a probable bankruptcy.

Credit is the provision of money or purchasing power to a person for a certain period on the basis of an assurance that it will be repaid, or the assumption of a payment obligation in that person’s favor. Banking Law Art. 48 treats, in addition to cash credit, non-cash transactions such as letters of guarantee, suretyship and aval as credit. In private law, the basis of monetary credit is most often a consumption loan agreement; for credit granted to consumers, the special rules of the Consumer Protection Law also apply.

A crypto-asset is an intangible asset that can be created and stored electronically by means of a distributed ledger (for example, blockchain) or a similar technology, is distributed over digital networks and can represent a value or a right. The definition was added to the Capital Markets Law in 2024 by Law No. 7518. Crypto-asset service providers are subject to the permit and supervision of the Capital Markets Board; under the Central Bank’s regulation, crypto-assets cannot be used directly or indirectly in payments.