Turkey was recommended to establish a trusteeship institution within the Ministry of Justice or the Ministry of Treasury and Finance during the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) meetings.
With the regulation included in the 9th Judicial Package, which has been approved by the Parliamentary Justice Commission and will be discussed at the Parliament in the coming days, the Saving Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) will be appointed as a trustee for 5 years in cases where there is a strong suspicion that terrorism financing crimes have been committed.
Mehmet Ökmen, General Director of Legislation at the Ministry of Justice, gave information at the Justice Commission where the regulation was discussed. Ökmen stated that the trusteeship institution is a protection measure in the sense of obtaining and preserving evidence during the investigation or prosecution, and that a trusteeship institution should be established in the public sector as a complementary element of the trusteeship institution.
“Unfortunately, the institution of trusteeship has not yet been established in our country. It needs to be operationalized as an institution either within the Ministry of Finance or the Ministry of Justice. This is currently being done temporarily through the TMSF, and since 2018, the TMSF has been temporarily designated as the trusteeship institution. In the meetings we held last week within the scope of the OECD and FATF, we were presented with recommendations to establish a trusteeship institution. This will probably be established in the future, but until then, the TMSF will be performing this duty for 5 years” Ökmen said.
Reminding that there are still companies seized due to terrorism or laundering of assets within the scope of Article 282 of the Turkish Penal Code, Ökmen spoke as follows: “The companies of phenomena were seized. There are serious companies and a serious amount of capital there and they need to be managed. It is not possible to manage them professionally by appointing ordinary third parties. A corporate structure and a professional team had to manage them. For this reason, the TMSF is temporarily required to do this, there is a need for this.”
TMSF will be the appointed trustee for 5 years
According to the 9th Judicial Package, the TMSF will be appointed as a trustee for a period of 5 years in case there are strong grounds for suspicion that the crimes of laundering assets arising from crime, armed organization, providing weapons to armed organization, financing terrorism have been committed.
The powers of the general assembly of the companies will be exercised by the TMSF without being subject to the provisions of the Turkish Commercial Code. Due to the financial situation, shareholder structure, market conditions or other problems of these companies or their assets, the TMSF may decide to partially or completely sell the company or its assets or assets, or to dissolve and liquidate it.
The sale and liquidation procedures will be carried out by the board of directors/managers of the relevant company or the assets, trustee representatives or the TMSF. The consent of minority shareholders will not be sought in sale and liquidation transactions. Companies whose trusteeship is carried out by the TMSF will be exempt from fees in lawsuits filed by them.
