Minority Shareholder Protection in Corporations: Protection for Whom, Why, and How?

Protection of minority shareholders is one of the key concerns of corporate law. This paper examines how the Turkish Commercial Code (TCC) protects minority shareholders while paying special attention to close joint stock corporations with a controlling shareholder. First, it assesses how the concep...

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Main Author: Abdurrahman Kayıklık
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Istanbul University Press 2022-07-01
Series:İstanbul Hukuk Mecmuası
Subjects:
Online Access:https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/A8778619B3C04A0C89FF23327100C7A6
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author Abdurrahman Kayıklık
author_facet Abdurrahman Kayıklık
author_sort Abdurrahman Kayıklık
collection DOAJ
description Protection of minority shareholders is one of the key concerns of corporate law. This paper examines how the Turkish Commercial Code (TCC) protects minority shareholders while paying special attention to close joint stock corporations with a controlling shareholder. First, it assesses how the concept of minority in corporations has been used in the TCC and existing literature and then attempts to define it. Second, it explains the legal and financial risks that necessitate minority protection using examples. Third, it explores why minority shareholders are usually unable to protect themselves from such risks and offers justifications for protection through mandatory norms. Finally, the paper analyzes the system of the TCC for minority protection by subjecting the protective mechanisms to a taxonomy. After taking a critical approach toward the so-called positive-negative minority rights dichotomy used by most Turkish scholars for its limited scope and the criterion for such dichotomy, the paper offers a novel taxonomy. The functional approach that this paper presents classifies the statutory mechanisms into five categories. The first category, voice, consists of rights allowing minority shareholders to influence corporate decisions and transactions. The second category, exit rights, enables minority shareholders to exit the corporation through a free or safe exit. The third category, foundational rights, ensures proper exercise of voice and exit rights. The fourth category, gap-filling principles, includes abstract norms that supplement the concrete rules in the previous categories. The fifth and final category, the protective walls, is part of the legal mechanisms that aim at protecting the very system that protects minority shareholders.
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spelling doaj-art-2369dd56471045e2bbd69eb6cf6ec20b2025-08-20T02:15:33ZengIstanbul University Pressİstanbul Hukuk Mecmuası2667-69742022-07-0180240745310.26650/mecmua.2022.80.2.0003123456Minority Shareholder Protection in Corporations: Protection for Whom, Why, and How?Abdurrahman Kayıklık0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0067-0461Koç Üniversitesi, Istanbul, TurkiyeProtection of minority shareholders is one of the key concerns of corporate law. This paper examines how the Turkish Commercial Code (TCC) protects minority shareholders while paying special attention to close joint stock corporations with a controlling shareholder. First, it assesses how the concept of minority in corporations has been used in the TCC and existing literature and then attempts to define it. Second, it explains the legal and financial risks that necessitate minority protection using examples. Third, it explores why minority shareholders are usually unable to protect themselves from such risks and offers justifications for protection through mandatory norms. Finally, the paper analyzes the system of the TCC for minority protection by subjecting the protective mechanisms to a taxonomy. After taking a critical approach toward the so-called positive-negative minority rights dichotomy used by most Turkish scholars for its limited scope and the criterion for such dichotomy, the paper offers a novel taxonomy. The functional approach that this paper presents classifies the statutory mechanisms into five categories. The first category, voice, consists of rights allowing minority shareholders to influence corporate decisions and transactions. The second category, exit rights, enables minority shareholders to exit the corporation through a free or safe exit. The third category, foundational rights, ensures proper exercise of voice and exit rights. The fourth category, gap-filling principles, includes abstract norms that supplement the concrete rules in the previous categories. The fifth and final category, the protective walls, is part of the legal mechanisms that aim at protecting the very system that protects minority shareholders.https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/A8778619B3C04A0C89FF23327100C7A6the turkish commercial codejoint stock corporationsminority shareholdersprotection of minority shareholdersminority shareholder rightsmandatory normsvoiceexit rights
spellingShingle Abdurrahman Kayıklık
Minority Shareholder Protection in Corporations: Protection for Whom, Why, and How?
İstanbul Hukuk Mecmuası
the turkish commercial code
joint stock corporations
minority shareholders
protection of minority shareholders
minority shareholder rights
mandatory norms
voice
exit rights
title Minority Shareholder Protection in Corporations: Protection for Whom, Why, and How?
title_full Minority Shareholder Protection in Corporations: Protection for Whom, Why, and How?
title_fullStr Minority Shareholder Protection in Corporations: Protection for Whom, Why, and How?
title_full_unstemmed Minority Shareholder Protection in Corporations: Protection for Whom, Why, and How?
title_short Minority Shareholder Protection in Corporations: Protection for Whom, Why, and How?
title_sort minority shareholder protection in corporations protection for whom why and how
topic the turkish commercial code
joint stock corporations
minority shareholders
protection of minority shareholders
minority shareholder rights
mandatory norms
voice
exit rights
url https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/A8778619B3C04A0C89FF23327100C7A6
work_keys_str_mv AT abdurrahmankayıklık minorityshareholderprotectionincorporationsprotectionforwhomwhyandhow