New Era in Commercial Books

The Ministry of Trade's digitalization process for keeping commercial books electronically has been in the spotlight for a long time. The green light was finally given and the Communiqué on Keeping Commercial Books Not Related to the Accounting of the Business in Electronic Environment (Communiqué) was published in the Official Gazette on 14 February 2025.

The Communiqué regulates the procedures and principles regarding the electronic storage of (i) share ledger, (ii) board of directors' decision book for joint stock companies, (iii) board of directors' decision book for limited liability companies and (iv) general assembly meeting and negotiation book, which are considered as commercial books.

Within the scope of the Communiqué:

• - companies registered in the trade registry as of 1 January 2026,
• - joint stock companies whose incorporation and amendments to the articles of association are subject to the permission of the Ministry

are obliged to keep their ledgers electronically. Companies not covered by the Communiqué will only be able to keep their Ledgers electronically if they prefer it.

Ledgers will be managed through the Electronic Ledger System (System) created by the Ministry of Trade. We have compiled striking issues regarding the System below.

• - For companies that will keep their ledgers electronically since their establishment, the ledgers will be created and activated in the System simultaneously with the registration of the company to the trade registry.
• - Companies that are subsequently included in the scope of this obligation will be required to apply to a notary public within two months at the latest, and companies that wish to keep their ledgers in electronic environment on a voluntary basis will be required to apply to a notary public within the accounting period in which this decision is taken, and have the closing approval of their physical Ledgers.
• - Ledgers will be kept by the Ministry. The Ministry will be responsible for the safe storage, confidentiality, accessibility and recording of the information of each transaction.
• - Material errors will be corrected by the System user and the correction will be indicated in the relevant field in the System.
• - Pursuant to the provisions of the Communiqué, companies that have started to keep their Ledgers in an electronic environment will not be able to keep the said Ledgers in physical environment again for any reason.

The Communiqué will enter into force on 1 July 2025.

The impact of digitalization in all areas of law is becoming increasingly evident each day. This regulation aims to raise the information security standards of companies, ensure both verifiability and accessibility of commercial records, and reduce bureaucracy.

You can reach the relevant Communiqué here . (Only available in Turkish).