The new Turkish Commercial Code will enter into force as of July 01, 2012. Although the provisions regarding the commercial agents are in parallel with the current Turkish Commercial Code in general, the new Turkish Commercial Code has introduced some important novelties in order to harmonize the agency provisions with the Council Directive 86/653/EEC.

The new Turkish Commercial Code (“NTCC”) No. 6102 shall enter into force as of July 01, 2012. In parallel with the harmonization process of Turkish Law with acquis communautaire, the NTCC has significantly changed the existing system and replaced the outdated provisions of the current Turkish Commercial Code (“TCC”) with practical ones. As one of the aims of the NTCC is to boost investment, advanced provisions regarding the establishment of the companies have been introduced.

So far as the global shipping practice is concerned, laytime & demurrage is one of the most complicated topics for both ship-owners and charterers under voyage charter-parties. Thus, the dynamic between the parties has been sought to be balanced through a number of attempts which have been made either by courts or legislators in shipping world.

The new Turkish Commercial Code (NTCC) No. 6102 will enter into force on July 01, 2012. The ultimate purpose of the legislator is to modernize Turkish Commercial Law by adopting parallel provisions to the ones being used in the EU. In this respect, it provides a more practical procedure for establishment, includes various requirements to increase transparency, obliges companies to use generally accepted accounting standards and requires them to use information technology tools.

While mergers and acquisitions have considerable advantages in terms of efficiency, they may also lead to significant employment issues and carry potential liabilities for the merging parties, especially when they involve large group of employees. The parties can reduce the risk of claims and detrimental effects of such mergers by addressing the issues in the negotiation process.