“It is not all about making laws. On the contrary, everything is about applying and enforcing those laws. The one who applies and enforces is forever greater than the one who decides”. - Mustafa Kemal Atatürk The founder of our Republic, the great leader Mustafa Kemal ATATÜRK opened the Ankara Bar Association on April 5, 1923 and entrusted justice to Turkish lawyers. Happy April 5th Lawyers' Day.
As of August 25, 2023, the European Commission requested 19 major online platforms and search engines to comply with the European Union regulations (Digital Services Act - DSA) and to take the necessary initiatives to ensure compliance with the relevant regulation. This legal regulation was actually discussed in 2022 and approved by the European Parliament on October 19, 2022 and became effective on November 01, 2022. However, the regulation started to affect large companies such as online platforms and search engines as of May 02, 2023. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, on August 25, 2023 shared a post like this (1) We’re bringing our European values into the digital world. With strict rules on transparency and accountability, our Digital Services Act aims to protect our children, societies and democracies. As of today, very large online platforms must apply the new law. — Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) August 25, 2023 According to the regulation, major online platforms must ensure that; Users will receive clear information about why certain information is being recommended to them and have the right to opt out of recommendation systems based on profiling; Users will be able to easily report illegal content and platforms will have to handle such reports with due diligence; Platforms will be required to label all advertisements and inform users who is promoting them; Platforms are required to provide an easily understandable, plain language summary of their terms and conditions in the languages of the Member States in which they operate. While the regulation as it stands appears to be a highly attractive and "demanding" regulation, the current proposals for the DSA approved by the EU Parliament committee would require online platforms to quickly remove potentially illegal content. The regulation would automatically make any "active platform"…
THE LEGAL SITUATION REGARDING THE USE OF CRYPTOCURRENCY(1) IN PAYMENTS IN TURKEY* *This article was prepared as of May 2021 and revised on 25.04.2022. There has been no change in legal regulations as of the date of publication. A- Legal Regulations Determining the Principles Regarding Cryptocurrencies Regulation on the Non-Use of Crypto Assets in Payments (prepared by the CBRT, adopted on 16.04.2021, entered into force on 30.04.2021) (hereinafter referred to as the CBRT Regulation) Regulation on Measures to Prevent Laundering Proceeds of Crime and Financing of Terrorism (prepared by the Ministry of Finance, adopted on 10.12.2007, entered into force on 09.01.2008) (for the sake of clarity, it will be briefly referred to as MASAK Regulation in this document) General Communiqué on Tax Procedure Law (Serial No: 529) (prepared by the Ministry of Treasury and Finance (Revenue Administration - RA), entered into force on 13.07.2021) (hereinafter referred to as the RA Communiqué) B- Provisions in the Regulations 1- CBRT (Central Bank of Republic of Turkiye) Regulation Regulation consisting of 6 articles "...determining the procedures and principles regarding the non-use of crypto-assets in payments, the non-use of crypto-assets directly or indirectly in the provision of payment services and the issuance of electronic money, and the non-intermediation of payment and electronic money institutions in platforms offering trading, custody, transfer or issuance services related to crypto-assets or fund transfers from these platforms..." for the purpose of the Regulation. Article 3 of the Regulation "For the purposes of this Regulation, a cryptoasset is an intangible asset that is created virtually using distributed ledger technology or a similar technology and distributed over digital networks, but is not characterized as fiat money, dematerialized money, electronic money, payment instrument, security or other capital market instrument. (2) Crypto assets cannot be used directly or indirectly in payments. (3) Services…
On July 13, 2023, a decision was rendered by the New York Court in the case filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (hereinafter referred to as SEC) against Ripple Labs Inc (hereinafter referred to as ripple). Although the decision has been described as a "victory for ripple" on social media and cryptocurrency markets, when we start reading the text of the decision, we can see that there is actually no "victory" even in the first paragraphs. In this article, we aim to analyze the text of the decision in headings and share our opinion without going too deep into the American legal system, but in order to be understandable. SUBJECT OF LAWSUIT The case was brought by the SEC against Ripple and two company executives (Bradley Garlinghouse and Christian A. Larsen) for illegal offers and sales of securities in violation of Securities Act regulations. Company executives were also alleged to have aided and abetted the company's violations of the law. WHAT HAPPENED? As a factual background in the decision, it is seen that an examination was made from the establishment of ripple (first NewCoin Inc. then OpenCoin Inc. and finally until its establishment as Ripple Labs in 2014). It is claimed that 20 billion of the 100 billion xrp that ripple offered to the market was owned by the 3 founders, ripple had 80 billion xrp, ripple sold xrp directly to certain individuals and/or organizations (primarily institutional buyers, venture funds, ODL customers *Open and Distance Learning) through institutional sales through its wholly owned subsidiaries. ripple is claimed to have sold 728.9 million USD worth of xrp from these sales. Second, ripple made sales on digital asset exchanges as part of a "program" or through trading algorithms. Ripple does not have information about who these sales were made to,…
The Regulation on Manipulation and Misleading Transactions in Financial Markets was published in the Official Gazette. This news spread in a very short time with an opinion that "commenting on foreign exchange is now forbidden" especially on social media. In paragraph 1 of article 4 of the Regulation titled "Manipulation and misleading transactions and practices in financial markets"; The following actions performed by banks are considered as manipulation and misleading transactions and practices in financial markets covered by Article 76 / A of the Law: It is said and in the subparagraph d of the paragraph; False or misleading information or rumors that may or may provide false or misleading impressions regarding the supply, demand, or exchange rate and interest-price included of a financial instrument, or which may or may ensure that the price is kept at an abnormal or artificial level, spread through the mediator or other means. with subparagraph f in; Communicating false or misleading information about a reference value, providing false or misleading inputs, or taking any manipulating behavior to calculate a reference value, even though he or she knows or must know that it is false or misleading. has been identified as a manipulation movement. IS CAPITAL MARKET LAW INSUFFICIENT? In order to understand what is meant by the aforementioned manipulation, it is necessary to explain what the "wrong" or "misleading" information and / or rumors are in legal markets and their legal counterparts. The Capital Market Law No. 6362 (SPKn) is a law introduced to regulate and control the capital market to ensure the functioning and development of the capital market in a reliable, transparent, effective, stable, fair and competitive environment, and to protect the rights and interests of investors. In article 107 of this law titled "Market Fraud" (1) Those who buy or sell,…