With the Presidential Decree No. 7887 ("Decree") announced in the Official Gazette No. 32380 published on Saturday, November 25th, 2023, the minimum initial capital amount stipulated in the first paragraph of Article 332 titled "Minimum capital amount" of the Turkish Commercial Code No. 6102 ("Law") as 50,000 TRY (fifty thousand Turkish Liras) for joint stock companies has been increased to 250,000 TRY (two hundred and fifty thousand Turkish Liras).
For non-public joint stock companies that have adopted the registered capital system, the minimum initial capital amount stipulated as 100,000 TRY (one hundred thousand Turkish Liras) has been increased to 500,000 TRY (five hundred thousand Turkish Liras).
With the same Decree, the minimum initial capital amount stipulated in the first paragraph of Article 580 titled "Minimum amount" of the Law as 10,000 TRY (ten thousand Turkish Liras) for limited liability companies has been increased to 50,000 TRY (fifty thousand Turkish Liras).
The amendments made to the Law by the Decree will enter into force on January 1, 2024 and the relevant minimum capital amounts will apply to companies to be established after the effective date.
Accordingly, there is no obligation to increase the capital for joint stock and limited liability companies that have already been established and operating.
In the public statement made by the Ministry of Trade ("Ministry") through its social media accounts on November 26, 2023, this opinion has been expressed. Nevertheless, it has been recommended by the Ministry that the capital be increased to the mentioned amounts to strengthen the equity capital of the companies.
Likewise, pursuant to paragraph 3 of Article 35 of the Attorneyship Law No. 1136, titled "Work that can only be performed by attorneys", the limit on the obligation of joint stock companies with a capital five times or more the amount of capital stipulated in the Law to have an attorney under contract increased to 1,250,000 TRY (one million two hundred and fifty thousand Turkish Liras).
In summary, the share capital of joint stock and limited liability companies to be established as of January 1, 2024 has been updated and the share capital of existing companies is excluded from the scope of the amendment.
