Competition Law, Antitrust Compliance & Dawn Raid Training in Turkiye

1. Fundamental Principles of the Protection of Competition Act No. 4054

While modeled closely on Articles 101 and 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), Act No. 4054 is enforced much more aggressively in local Turkish markets. This module covers the core statutory boundaries: the absolute prohibition of anti-competitive agreements, the prevention of the abuse of market dominance, and the mandatory merger-control thresholds that foreign investors must clear during acquisitions.

2. Scrutiny of Horizontal & Vertical Agreements

Turkish antitrust laws draw a sharp line between horizontal agreements (agreements between direct competitors) and vertical agreements (agreements between a manufacturer and its distributors or retailers). We train your commercial teams to understand why horizontal cartels are treated as automatic “red card” violations, while vertical distribution agreements must be carefully engineered to fit within strict local safe harbors.

3. Abuse of Dominant Position (Article 6)

Foreign brands entering Turkiye often capture significant market share quickly, unintentionally triggering “market dominance” status under Turkish precedents. This module explains the strict limits of dominance: why aggressive loyalty rebates, exclusivity clauses in distributor contracts, bundling practices, or predatory pricing models designed to crowd out local Turkish startups can lead to devastating antitrust investigations.

4. Intra-Group & Parent-Subsidiary Relationships

A common and costly mistake made by international GCs is assuming that local Turkish iştiraks (subsidiaries) are legally insulated from the global parent. Under the Turkish “Single Economic Unit” doctrine, the TCA treats the parent company and its local subsidiary as a single enterprise. If the Turkish subsidiary commits an antitrust violation, the global parent can be held jointly, severally, and directly liable for the resulting turnover-based fines.

5. Antitrust Auditing of Distribution & Franchise Networks

This module analyzes distribution and franchise setups under Block Exemption Communiqué No. 2002/2. We teach your management how to avoid illegal Resale Price Maintenance (RPM)—such as dictating minimum pricing to local dealers—and why restricting a Turkish distributor from selling online or exporting to neighboring countries is treated as an automatic, un-exemptible vertical violation.

6. Information Exchange, Gentlemen’s Agreements & Tacit Collusion

Competitor interactions do not require a signed contract to be ruled illegal. Informally exchanging pricing plans, capacity forecasts, or supply chain margins during trade association meetings constitutes an antitrust violation. Furthermore, this module addresses the TCA’s massive crackdown on “gentlemen’s agreements,” specifically targeting non-poaching and mutual employee-no-hire clauses between companies.

7. The TCA’s Audit Powers & Digital Forensic Dawn Raids

An unannounced dawn raid (Yerinde İnceleme) is the single most invasive regulatory action in Turkiye. TCA inspectors do not just look at paper files; they have the absolute legal authority to clone hard drives, search local servers, and mirror personal and corporate mobile communications (such as WhatsApp, WeChat, or Slack). We teach your reception, IT, and local management the exact “first 10 minutes” protocols to prevent massive fines for “obstruction.”

8. Calculation of Fines & Investigation Timelines

When the TCA finds an antitrust violation, fines are calculated as a percentage—up to 10%—of the offending enterprise’s annual local or global turnover from the preceding fiscal year. This module breaks down how the board calculates these penalties, the factors that trigger aggravating increases, and how to utilize the statutory “Leniency Program” (Pişmanlık Başvurusu) to secure full immunity if a violation is detected internally.

9. Designing Corporate Competition Compliance Programs

The best way to survive a dawn raid or an antitrust investigation is to prevent it entirely. This module teaches your compliance officers how to design, implement, and audit a localized antitrust compliance program. We guide you on establishing internal reporting lines, executing mock dawn raids, and training sales representatives to eliminate high-risk pricing communications before they ever reach the regulator.

• C-Suite Executives, Regional Directors, and Board Members: Strategic decision-makers who face direct administrative and personal liability for compliance gaps.

• Pazarlama, Satış ve İş Geliştirme Ekipleri (Sales, Marketing & BD Teams): Frontline teams negotiating commercial terms, exclusive distribution rights, and distributor pricing models.

• In-House Legal, Audit, and Compliance Officers: Internal gatekeepers responsible for maintaining corporate integrity.

• Enterprise Entities in Highly Audited Sectors: Tailored specifically for industries subject to aggressive TCA scrutiny, including Retail, E-Commerce, Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), Tech & Software, Logistics, and Pharmaceuticals.

• Duration: 2 Hours (Highly interactive, visual sessions focusing on real case-study evaluations, interactive quizzes, and Q&A).

• Delivery Format:

  • Online Interactive Classrooms: Delivered via MS Teams or Zoom for global executive headquarters, legal directors, and local subsidiaries.

  • On-Site Corporate Workshops: Interactive, face-to-face training at your local corporate headquarters or manufacturing zones.

• Expert Presentation: Delivered fully by specialized corporate attorneys fluent in English and Turkish. We dissect active, local TCA precedents and share actual dawn raid scenarios, tailoring the risk analysis specifically to your industry sector.

• Deliverables: Participants receive bilingual “Antitrust Compliance Certificates” and a custom “Dawn Raid Emergency Response Card” (a step-by-step checklist for receptionists, IT, and legal teams to keep at office desks).