NEWSLETTER-2017

45 COMMERCIAL LAW • Also, as per Art. 380 of the TCC, a company can provide fi- nancial assistance to its employees to enable them to acquire its shares. In Turkey, there are no established share option plans since such plans are relatively new in the market. In parallel with the current leg- islation, Turkish companies can use one of three general structures to offer shares to their employees: Capital Increase and Issuing New Shares: Shares are granted to employees following a capital increase. The pre-emptive rights of current shareholders are restricted, and the employees subscribe to the newly issued shares derived from the capital increase; Share Buyback and Reissuance: The company acquires its own shares, subject to the TCC and related CMB regulations for public companies, and then transfers the shares to its employees under a plan; Option Agreement: This method is the combination of the above-explained two methods. In this structure, the company and the employee enter into an option agreement. The company grants the em- ployee the right to acquire a certain amount of shares for a fixed range of amounts within a prescribed period. New shares are created through a capital increase, or issued shares are repurchased by the company, and then transferred to the employee under the terms of the option agreement. The financing for the shares is provided by the company or employee. Other SOPs in Turkey Other plans apart from SOPs in Turkey that are presented as a part of salary package for local and foreign employees who work in Turk- ish companies, and who are particularly part of the management staff, as there is a field of application for multinational companies within the scope of global politics are, generally: • Employee Stock Purchase Plans • Phantom Shares, Stock Bonuses • Stock Appreciation Rights