The Scope of Application of Turkish Groups of Companies Law Provisions
Türk Hukukunda Şirketler Topluluğuna İlişkin Hükümlerin Uygulama Alanı
Fatma Beril ÖZCANLI
The new Turkish Commercial Code (TCC) has introduced the notion of groups of companies, however it does not entail any provisions with regards to the scope of application of the provisions. After the enactment of the TCC, a new Trade Registry Regulation (TRR) was adopted. Article 105 TRR stipulated the scope of application with regards to the groups of company law provisions of the TCC. According to that, at least three commercial companies, one of which is a controlling and two of which are dependent companies, are required for the formation of a group of companies. In cases where the controlling entity is an enterprise, the number of dependent companies must exceed two, i.e. the existence of at least three dependent companies are required. However according to Art. 195/4 TCC companies that are directly or indirectly affiliated with the controlling company form the group of companies together with it. This paper is trying to examine the relationship between these two provisions from the hierarchy of norms perspective. Within this regard, also provisions of the German Stock Corporation Act (AktG- Aktiengesetz) and their scope of application is considered, as the provisions of the AktG regarding the corporate groups are a fundamental source for the Turkish legislation.
Turkish Groups of Companies Law, Scope of Application, Principle of Hierarchy of Norms, Control Relationship, Dependent Company.
6102 sayılı (yeni) Türk Ticaret Kanunu (TTK), şirketler topluluğu hukukuna ilişkin hükümleri Türk hukukuna kazandırmış, ancak bu hükümlerin uygulama alanına ilişkin herhangi bir düzenleme yapmak yoluna başvurmamıştır. TTK’nın yürürlüğe girmesinden sonraki dönemde bu defa, eski Ticaret Sicil Tüzüğü yerine yeni bir Ticaret Sicili Yönetmeliği (TSY) kabul edilmiştir. Söz konusu yönetmeliğin 105. maddesi ile TTK’nın şirketler topluluğu hükümlerinin uygulama alanına yönelik bir düzenleme içermektedir. Bu düzenleme şirketler topluluğunun oluşması için, biri hâkim, ikisi bağlı şirket olmak üzere, en az üç ticaret şirketinin gerekli olduğunu öngörmekte; hâkimiyetin bir ticaret şirketine değil de bir teşebbüse ait olduğu durumlarda ise bağlı şirket sayısının ikiyi aşmasını, yani en az üç adet bağlı şirketin varlığını aramaktadır. Oysa ki TTK m. 195/4 hükmü uyarınca; “Hâkim şirkete doğrudan veya dolaylı olarak bağlı bulunan şirketler, onunla birlikte şirketler topluluğunu oluşturur”. Bu makale, bu iki hüküm arasındaki ilişkiyi normlar hiyerarşisi ve karşılaştırmalı hukuk perspektifinden incelemeye çalışmaktadır. Bu bağlamda, özellikle Alman AktG’nin şirketler topluluğu hukukuna ilişkin hükümleri de dikkate alınmaktadır.
Şirketler Topluluğu Hukuku, Uygulama Alanı, Normlar Hiyerarşisi, Kontrol İlişkisi, Bağlı Şirket.
I. GENERAL FRAMEWORK OF TURKISH GROUPS OF COMPANIES LAW
The (new) Turkish Commercial Code Nr. 6102 has introduced the notion of “groups of companies” to Turkish Commercial Law, hereby the “groups of companies” concept was spelled out for the first time in Turkish law.
Corporate groups existed before the enactment of the new Code, but there was not a specific regulation that governed the system of a corporate group structure. Corporate groups were mainly governed by the rules of tax law regulations and by some indirect provisions of the old TCC regarding reserve funds, which foresees an exemption for holding companies. Some provisions also existed in capital market legislation about related party transactions and transfer pricing, and there was a limited court practice about piercing the corporate veil doctrine.
Turkish groups of companies law is enacted under big influence of German law. The legal protective system of the Code is inspired by the German concept of Nachteil/Ausgleich - (Disadvantage/Adjustment), stipulated in §311 and §317 of the German Stock Corporation Act1 (AktG- Aktiengesetz). This concept foresees that, if a controlling company exposes a disadvantage to the dependent company--through the unlawful exercise of its control--the adverse consequences of such control are subject to adjustment, no later than the end of such fiscal year.
The new concept mainly has it roots in the German Stock Corporation Act, but also in some EU-Legislation. TCC’s Principle of Control doctrine is based on the 7th Company Law Directive on Consolidated Accounts, rather than the common direction principle of the German law. Another resource of the TCC is the Proposal for the 9th Company Law Directive on the Conduct of Groups containing a Public Limited Company, which focuses on corporate groups.2 And the new Code also benefits from Forum Europeum suggestions to build the liability regime in Turkish corporate groups law system.3
The Turkish groups of companies law is structured in a special sub-chapter consisting of fifteen articles (Articles 195-209), in the first chapter titled general provisions of the third book regulating commercial companies. Article 195 TCC defines the concepts of control, controlling company and dependent company. As mentioned above, Turkish corporate group law system is based on the control principle. That means acquiring a control instrument, which are stipulated in Article 195 TCC, is sufficient to possess the control of the dependent company.4
Controlling instruments according to Article 195 TCC are; (i) possession of the majority of voting rights in the dependent company, (ii) the power to elect the majority of the board of directors (BoD) members in the dependent company, (iii) a control agreement with the dependent company. These are assumptions for the possession of control. According to the Turkish procedural law principles, the contrary of a legal assumption cannot be proved. It means, the company in possession of a controlling instrument cannot argue that it is not exercising its control arising thereof.
