Recent Developments
The Central Bank Guidelines Regarding Fees That Banks Can Charge Corporate Clients (“Guidelines“) was updated in line with the amendments to the Communiqué on the Procedures and Principles Regarding Fees That Banks Can Charge Corporate Clients (“Communiqué“) dated March 29, 2020. The Guidelines clarify a number of matters that were at the center of debate among Turkish banks after the Communiqué entered into force.
The Guidelines
- Regarding loans provided together with bank(s) or other institution(s) established abroad that are not subject to the provisions of the Communiqué, such as syndicated facilities; provided that (i) the aforementioned banks and institutions are also parties to the facility agreement with the corporate client; and (ii) the agreement is subject to foreign law within the scope of the International Private and Civil Procedure Law, the products and services offered within the scope of this agreement will be excluded from the scope of the Communiqué’s restrictions.
- Regardless of the governing laws of the agreement, non-resident banks, financial leasing companies, factoring companies and financing companies and other financial institutions are exempted from the Communiqué in respect of the agreements they enter into with Turkish banks.
- The information form is required only for the agreements to be concluded after the effective date of the Communiqué.
- Banks can collect fees that are due but uncollected under the agreements concluded prior to the effective date of the Communiqué, without being subject to the limitations of the Communiqué. However, in respect of the agreements entered into prior to the effective date of the Communiqué, the fees that are yet to accrue after the effective date of the Communiqué will be subject to the limitations of the Communiqué.
- Fees that can be charged regarding products and services that are not within the categories of commercial loans, foreign trade, cash management and payment systems, can be freely determined. Where a product and/or a service of the aforementioned categories is provided together with a product and/or a service outside these categories, each agreement is evaluated separately in terms of the provisions of the Communiqué, provided that these products and services are not conditional upon each other; and they are regulated by separate agreements.
- Banks can offer multiple products or services together as a package. The fees to be collected for these packages cannot exceed the sum of the maximum fees announced by the banks for each product and service included in the package.
Conclusion
The Guidelines should be evaluated together with the Communiqué in order to eliminate any ambiguities that banks might encounter while applying the provisions of the Communiqué.
