1. General Overview

The Law No. 7247 Amending Certain Laws and Decrees ("Law No. 7247") was published in the Official Gazette dated June 26, 2020 and numbered 31167. The Law No. 7247 introduces many changes, including agreements that may be executed electronically for certain financial transactions. In this article, we will summarize the amendments made to the Banking Law No. 5411 ("Law No. 5411"), the Law No. 5464 on Bank Cards and Credit Cards ("Law No. 5464"), the Law No. 6361 on Financial Leasing, Factoring and Financing Companies ("Law No. 6361"), the Capital Markets Law No. 6362 ("Law No. 6362"), the Payment and Securities Settlement Systems, Payment Services and Electronic Money Institutions No. 6493 ("Law No. 6493") for entering into such agreements electronically.

  1. What are the Changes

Pursuant to the amendments made to the Law No. 5411, Law No. 5464, Law No. 6361 and Law No. 6362, agreements to be entered into with banks, card issuing institutions, financial leasing companies, factoring companies, financing companies, investment institutions, portfolio management companies and their clients may be executed (i) in writing, or (ii) through remote communication devices, or (iii) whether distantly or not, by any information or electronic communication device that enables verification of client's identity and is deemed by the relevant authorities as a written form. This novelty also applies to framework agreements to be executed between payment service providers and their clients within the scope of the Law No. 6493.

  1. Conclusion

The Law No. 7247 empowers banks, card issuing institutions, financial leasing companies, factoring companies, financing companies, investment institutions, portfolio management companies and payment service providers to enter into financial agreements with their clients through digital means in addition to conventional means. With these amendments, the Law No. 7247 aims to reduce the need for face-to-face contacts with these companies and institutions in order to keep up with today's technology and avoid the requirement for physical paperwork and wet signature so that relationship with clients may be initiated and concluded completely through digital means.

This article was first published in Legal Insights Quarterly by ELIG Gürkaynak Attorneys-at-Law in September 2020. A link to the full Legal Insight Quarterly may be found here

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