Ibrahim Omer Gonul, Chairman of the Capital Markets Board (SPK), reported that as of November 20 this year, the total size of the public offerings (IPO) of 46 companies in Borsa Istanbul reached TRY 64.3 billion.
The 15th International Corporate Governance Summit organized by the Corporate Governance Association of Turkey (TKYD) was held with the high participation of the public and business world. In the panels organized within the scope of the summit, experts in their fields discussed the importance of institutionalization. The main theme of the summit was “Key to Success in the 2nd Century: Corporate Governance”, the opening speeches of the summit were delivered by Dr. Tamer Saka, Chairman of the Board of Directors of TKYD and İbrahim Omer Gonul, Chairman of the SPK.
Stating that the ongoing geopolitical developments in the world, weakness in our main export markets and inflation stand out as some risk factors for our country, SPK Chairman Gonul said, “Under these circumstances, our capital markets and stock exchange continue to be an important alternative for companies in search of funds and investors in search of returns.” Saying that while IPOs in the world are decreasing in both number and size, the high performance of last year’s IPOs in Turkey continues, Gonul spoke as follows: “The amount of funds collected from initial public offerings, which was 19.3 billion TL last year, reached 64.3 billion TL with 46 companies as of November 20 this year. We anticipate that the demand for public offerings will continue similarly in the coming period.”
IPOs accelerate the institutionalization processes
Stating that going public should not only be seen as an alternative financing method and a source of funds for companies, Gonul emphasized that the obligations such as public disclosure, transparency, reporting, independent auditing and similar obligations that increase with public offerings accelerate the institutionalization processes of companies and increase the quality of management.
“Trust is a critical resource for a market economy”
“Trust is a critical resource for the functioning and growth of the market economy” Gonul said. Stating that all commercial transactions are based on trust, Gonul noted that trust supports investments and economic growth while reducing transaction costs. Reliable financial statements and public disclosures are the key to building trust in capital markets, Gönül said and that investors make decisions based on the quality of financial statements and disclosures provided by listed companies. According to Gonul, the quality of the services provided by companies should be increased, taking into account their critical roles and duties in the process of building trust in capital markets, and that stakeholders also have a very important function in establishing trust. “I reiterate once again the need for our country’s capital markets to become comparable with the best examples and to seek continuous improvement for this purpose” Gonul said.
“Our Republic is 100 TKYD is 20 years old”
TKYD President Dr. Tamer Saka noted that the concept of ‘Corporate Governance’ is more recognized nowadays, as the Republic celebrates its 100th anniversary and TKYD celebrates its 20th anniversary. Saka warned that the business world may face very serious uncertainties and risks in the second century and said, “We need to equip the business world to manage these uncertainties. Corporate governance is one of these important tools. We have very important sponsorships at this summit. We will determine the steps to be taken in the coming period.”
Explaining the most important achievement in the 20-year process as the member profile, Saka said, “We have reached a very strong point in terms of both corporate and individual membership. We will continue to take steps to improve this in the coming period. The most fundamental change is that we want to discuss the concept of corporate governance with a broader definition. Discussing corporate governance through the ecosystem is very valuable, and we should add it to the DNA of the country.”
HISTORIAN ILBER ORTAYLI: THE NUTUK WAS THE REPUBLIC’S FIRST WORK ON CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
At the Corporate Governance Summit, moderated by Hakan Guldag, Chairman of the Board of Directors of EKONOMI, historian author Prof. Dr. Ilber Ortayli gave a speech titled ‘The first Corporate Governance Work of the Republic: NUTUK’ (The Great Speech, authored by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of Turkish Republic). Ortaylı told the business world: “You will read the Nutuk, you will look at the decisions of the 1931 People’s Party Congress. Volume 4 is devoted to the history of the Republic. The decisions of the 1931 Assembly are also there, print and distribute that section and let everyone in the community read it.”
