NEW LAW IN TURKEY MAKES OPEN-SOURCE RESEARCH UNRELIABLE

You may no longer rely upon your open-source research on Due Diligence inquires regarding entities or individuals located in Turkey. On 31 December, new legislation, known as the Capital Market Law, has, in a very broad way, prohibited the publication or dissemination of any negative information that could affect investor decisions. Punishment reportedly includes prison time for violations. Whilst intended to stop the illegal manipulation of investment markets through disinformation, it has served to ruin business intelligence collection regarding Turkey. Some of the legislators in Turkish government should have their heads examined for not thinking this through. Remember the Law of Unintended Consequences.

Inasmuch as there has been no limitation issued on this new law, many investor information services have totally shut down their collection and distribution of business intelligence involving Turkey. They do not want to risk being cited for violations of this ambiguously worded statute. This means that new open-source information that appears to be negative will no longer be reported in the media, or by private subscription sources.

Therefore, any efforts to vet Turkish nationals, and/or their businesses, in 2013, will be problematic. You cannot trust Turkish media, or foreign media operating Turkey, to be true and complete. Could the Government of Turkey kindly correct its error, please. Otherwise, a lot of Turkish nationals are not going to pass Due Diligence enquiries conducted by compliance officers, loan officers, credit card companies, and many others working outside Turkey.