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ing activity permit applications. The activity permit shall be issued by
the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (“BRSA”).
The operations that payment institutions cannot engage in and
other prohibitions are provided in Art. 14 of the Law, and Articles 10
and 11 of the Regulation. Pursuant to these, a payment institution can-
not collect deposit or participation funds, cannot use the name of a
bank in any document, announcement and advertisement or publica-
tion, cannot give the impression that it acts and conclude transactions
on behalf of a bank. In addition, a payment institution cannot grant
loans. Activities of foreign exchange purchase and sale are limited to
those related to the procurement of a payment service. Commercial
activities other than operating as a payment service are not authorized.
Electronic Money Institutions and Electronic Money Issuance
Pursuant to Art. 18 of the Law, only banks operating within the
scope of Law No. 5411 and authorized electronic money institutions
can issue electronic money.
Institutions seeking to issue electronic money shall obtain an activ-
ity permit from the BRSA. Within this respect, some financial and
structural conditions, such as the condition of minimum capital shall
be fulfilled. Electronic money institutions are also subject to the oper-
ational limitations and prohibitions explained above. It should be
underlined that the pre-payment instruments that are solely used in the
own enterprises net of a company, or solely for the purchase of a spe-
cific product or service, are not within the scope of the Law.
The electronic money issuing institution shall immediately convert
the funds deposited by the electronic money user to electronic money
and prepare it for the disposition. This transaction shall be realized
through the banks operating within the scope of Law No. 5411. Yet, the
funds collected for issuance shall be kept in separate accounts opened
in these banks during the usage term and shall be blocked by these
banks. It is prohibited to provide any benefit, such as interest, to the
electronic money owner.
Control Provision
Pursuant to Art. 25 of the Law, any acquisition of shares that result
in the acquisition by one person directly or indirectly of shares repre-
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NEWSLETTER 2014