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Sustainability Reporting is now applicable to a wider range of companies in Türkiye

January 08, 2024
A. Deniz Altınay, Senior Partner, Pekin Bayar Mizrahi Galya Kohen Benbanaste, Counsel, Pekin Bayar Mizrahi
A. Deniz Altınay, Senior Partner, Pekin Bayar Mizrahi Galya Kohen Benbanaste, Counsel, Pekin Bayar Mizrahi
Posted in Environmental, social and governance (ESG)

The Public Oversight, Accounting and Auditing Standards Authority (Authority) Board on December 27, 2023 determined the scope of application of the Turkish Sustainability Reporting Standards (TSRS) in sustainability reports by businesses, companies and institutions. The Board also published the TSRS 1 and TSRS 2 standards which will be applied in the sustainability reports in line with the IFRS S1 “General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information” and IFRS S2 “Climate-related Disclosures” for the purposes of ensuring global validity and establishing uniformity.

According to the recent decision of the Board; investment institutions, collective investment institutions, portfolio management companies, mortgage financing institutions, central settlement institutions, central deposit institutions, joint stock companies of which capital markets instruments are listed at the stock exchange or which have issued prospectus or offering circular in that respect, joint stock companies which have issued capital markets instruments other than shares which are not listed at the stock exchange or which have issued an offering circular in that respect, banks within the control of Savings Deposit and Insurance Fund, rating agencies, financial holding companies, financial leasing companies, factoring companies, financing companies, asset management companies, companies holding qualified shares in financial holding companies as defined in Banking Law No. 5411, savings financing companies, insurance, reinsurance and pension companies and authorized entities, precious metal intermediary agencies, companies engaging in the manufacturing and trading of precious metals which are authorized to operate in Borsa Istanbul markets, alone or together with their affiliates or subsidiaries, which meet two of the three following criteria in two respective financial periods:

  1. total assets with value of TL500 m or more;
  2. annual net sales revenue of TL1bn or more;
  3. 250 employees or more

will be obliged to apply TSRS while preparing their sustainability reports. Banks, on the other hand, shall be subject to TSRS regardless of the thresholds.

Reporting requirements will be applicable as of the fiscal period commencing on 01.01.2024 and the above entities shall provide comparative information in their reporting except for the first reporting period subject to TSRS. The entities are also allowed to publish the first reporting subject to the TSRS after the publication of their financial statements on the dates designated in the decision.

With the above decisions of the Public Oversight, Accounting and Auditing Standards Authority Board, a wider range of entities in Türkiye will become obliged to make sustainability reporting based on TSRS.