Regulatory and supervisory authorities are established in order to regulate different types of markets, and to supervise and monitor market activities in accordance with these regulations or malfunctions that may occur. Some of the important entities in Turkey are as follows: the Competition Authority, the Energy Market Regulation Authority, the Banking Regulation and Supervision Authority, the Information and Communication Technologies Authority, Tobacco, Tobacco Products and Alcoholic Beverages Market Regulation Board, Privatization Administration, Public Procurement Authority, Sugar Authority, the Radio and Television Supreme Council, the Public Oversight, Accounting and Auditing Standards Authority.
Competition Authority
The Competition Authority (CA) targets to maximize the economic efficiency by establishing and protecting the competition in the market. The main responsibilities and powers of the Authority are as follows:
- Carrying out examinations, inquiries and investigations into activities and official transactions defined in the Competition Code upon application or ex officio; taking the measures necessary to prevent infringements of the Code; and imposing administrative regulations
- Granting exemption to and issuing related regulations for agreements which are in conflict with competition rules but are beneficial for the economy and consumers
- Preventing monopolization within the market by examining mergers, acquisitions and joint-ventures over a certain scale
- Examining the transfer of public undertakings to the private sector during the privatization process and preventing monopolization in businesses privatized
- Ensuring the dominance of competitive conditions within the markets by delivering opinions to public bodies and entities on various acts and regulations which would negatively affect or restrict competition in the markets
Energy Market Regulatory Authority
The Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EMRA) regulates and supervises the energy market in order to provide a sound, transparent and competitive market and maintain these circumstances; provide electricity and energy sources to consumers in the most convenient way in terms of quality, quantity, price and environmental compatibility. The main responsibilities and powers of the Authority are as follows:
- Granting licenses defining the authorized operations as well as resulting associated rights and obligations of legal entities in electricity, natural gas, petroleum, and liquid petroleum gas markets; auditing organizations engaged in aforesaid markets
- Monitoring the market performance, designing related regulations and auditing the enforcement process
- Determining statutory principles of pricing
- Imposing administrative sanctions, through the Electricity Market Regulation Board, in case of violations
Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency
The Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BRSA) protects the rights and benefits of depositors; guarantees the trust and stability in financial markets; supports development of the finance sector and facilitates the efficient working of the credit system. The main responsibilities and powers of the Authority are as follows:
- Regulating incorporation, management, organization, share exchange and similar procedures in banks, financial holding companies and partly in financial leasing and factoring companies; auditing to ensure compliance with such regulations
- Reducing transaction and intermediation costs for more competitive banking operations, boosting competitiveness, activating market integration and operation, rendering the market transparent, and ensuring that the opinions of relevant bodies are reflected into regulations concerning financial markets
- Inspecting the risk structures, internal controls, risk managements, internal audit systems, receivables, shareholder's equities, payables, profit and loss accounts, liability and obligation balances as well all factors having impact on the financial structures of entities covered by the banking law for compliance with the principles of corporate management
- Evaluating the annual financial reports issued by independent audit institutions
Capital Markets Board
The Capital Markets Board of Turkey (CMB) aims to ensure efficient and extensive involvement of public to economic development through transforming investments into securities, and protect the rights and benefits of investors by promoting the principles of fairness, transparency and stability in the capital market. The main responsibilities and powers of the Authority are as follows:
- Making true, timely and adequate public disclosures
- Determining terms and principles regulating audit and assessment processes for institutions covered by the Capital Markets Law
- Cooperating with other regulatory and audit institutions in order to meet the requirements of the national and international legislation and to ensure financial stability
- Establishing principles relating to the certificates of educational and professional competence for employees recruited by public limited companies and capital market institutions and establishing training centers
- Establishing rules that shall be complied with by entities that will offer investment advice to capital market players
- Defining operating principles for the Public Disclosure Platform through applications and announcements
- Regulating IT systems of public limited companies, stock exchanges and self-regulatory institutions
- Temporarily assigning members to vacancies occurring in the board of directors of public limited companies
Information and Communication Technologies Authority
The Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) undertakes the legal regulation, supervision, authorization, reconciliation, and other similar functions within the telecommunications market. The main responsibilities and powers of the Authority are as follows:
- Inspecting the legal compliance of networks and infrastructures, and eliminating those which are non-conforming
- Inspecting compliance with licenses, standards and legislation in the market
- Carrying out dispute resolution procedures between operators when necessary, and otherwise taking necessary measures
- Defining principles and procedures to ensure equal access to telecommunication services for consumers and end-users, and to protect their rights and benefits
- Issuing and publishing national standards that should be met by any and all systems and devices used in the telecommunications industry, and inspecting the compliance of market to such standards
Tobacco, Tobacco Products and Alcoholic Beverages Market Regulation Board
The Tobacco, Tobacco Products, and Alcoholic Beverages Market Regulation Board (TAMRB) follows up operations relating to registration, authorization and regulatory systems in tobacco, tobacco products, alcohol and liquor; issues regulations for avoiding medical and social harms of tobacco and alcohol consumption, and also issues sector-specific implementing guidelines for the enforcement of laws. The main responsibilities and powers of the Authority are as follows:
- Regulating and supervising tobacco production, granting permissions for the import of tobacco seeds and tobacco trade; and buying and selling tobacco products by public procurement
- Granting necessary permissions to set up tobacco processing plants; inspecting the operations of these plants, monitoring tobacco warehouses and storages, granting permissions relating to tobacco warehouses
- Supervising entities engaged in the market
- Granting establishment, production and sales permits for tobacco production
- Regulating the markets on ethyl alcohol, methanol, distilled liquors and brews; issuing regulations to be put into force countrywide, and harmonizing them with the EU legislation
Privatization Administration
As a highly important authority, distinctive from other regulatory and supervisory institutions, the Privatization Administration (PA) is responsible for coordinating the privatization processes in Turkey. It is an autonomous administrative organ with full responsibility for privatization processes in the country. The main responsibilities and powers of the Administration are as follows:
- Presenting proposals to the Supreme Privatization Council for the inclusion of organizations into/exclusion of organizations from the scope of privatization or orienting the preparation of appropriate organizations toward privatization
- Preparing a privatization plan for eligible organizations, and determining necessary privatization procedures
- Conducting the privatization process of organizations; guiding the organizations during the pre-privatization process, and coordinating the operations in this field
- Issuing regulations for financial, administrative and legal structures of organizations
- Administering the Privatization Fund
Public Procurement Authority
The Public Procurement Authority establishes the principles and procedures to be applied to any procurement held by public authorities and institutions governed by public law or under public control or using public funds; coordinates the procurement of goods, services or works financed by any resource at the disposal of the contracting authorities referred to in the law. The main responsibilities and powers of the Authority are as follows:
- Handling complaints claiming that the actions of the contracting authority within the period from the commencement of the tender proceedings until the signing of the contract are in violation of the applicable legislation
- Issuing, developing and guiding the implementation of all legislation concerning the Public Procurement Law and the Public Procurement Contracts Law as well as the standard tender documents and contracts
- Keeping the records of entities prohibited from bidding for tenders
- Determining the principles and procedures with regard to tender notices, publishing the Public Procurement Bulletin
Sugar Authority
The Sugar Authority is the institution authorized and responsible for and in charge of establishing principles and procedures of sugar regime, sugar production, pricing and marketing for meeting the sugar demand in the country through local production or otherwise by import. The Authority ensures that the sugar legislation is enforced and supervises the compliance of operations with the legislation. The Authority has the following duties and authorities through the Sugar Board acting as its decision-making body:
- Making and implementing decisions on setting, canceling and transferring quotas
- Determining the participation shares of companies in the market
- Making and implementing decisions on storage deductions and premiums
- Evaluating market parameters and conveying to the higher body its opinions on regulations deemed necessary
- Enforcing statutory administrative sanctions
- Guiding the R&D process, and allocating resources when deemed necessary
- Conducting inspections at related plants
The Radio and Television Supreme Council
The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTSC) is responsible for regulating and supervising radio and TV operations. License and authorization for broadcast is granted to terrestrial, digital, satellite, cable and IPTV broadcasters by RTSC. RTSC inspects broadcasters directly or upon viewer complaints and imposes sanctions when deemed necessary. The main responsibilities and powers of the Authority are as follows:
- Taking measures to secure freedom of information and building competitive environment in the broadcast services market
- Preparing and implementing TV channel and radio frequency plans
- Defining requirements for license applications by media service providers, granting licenses to eligible entities, supervising whether eligibility is maintained and withdrawing the licenses when necessary
- Inspecting whether the broadcasts of media service providers settled in Turkey comply with the applicable legislation and appropriate international conventions
- Inspecting whether the broadcast services of media providers not settled in but subject to the jurisdiction of Turkey comply with the applicable legislation and appropriate international conventions
- Determining principles and procedures for measuring and supervising broadcast ratings, defining sanctions for violations
Public Oversight, Accounting and Auditing Standards Authority
The Public Oversight, Accounting and Auditing Standards Authority (POA) is established to develop standards so as to ensure that financial reports are issued and supervised in compliance with international standards and secure an efficient public oversight with a view to ensuring a high quality and reliable financial reporting and independent audit environment. The main responsibilities and powers of the Authority are as follows:
- Establishing and issuing Turkish Accounting Standards in compliance with international standards in order to ensure relevance, transparency, reliability, understandability and consistency of financial statements of the parties who are liable by law to keep accounts
- Establishing requirements for the setup and operation of independent auditors and audit firms; announcing, registering and publicly disclosing eligible entities
- Supervising and overseeing the compliance of operations of independent auditors and audit firms with the regulations; suspending or withdrawing the operating licenses in case of any violation
- Conducting the examination, authorization, registration and disciplinary investigation process for independent auditors; establishing educational and professional ethical standards, and taking necessary measures to remove any deficiency
- Cooperating with appropriate international authorized bodies; registering foreign auditors and audit firms authorized to perform auditing in Turkey, and making public disclosures to this end
