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Sude Naz Ayaksız

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1. General Information

With Law No. 7582, published in the Official Gazette dated 04.06.2026 and numbered 33270, Additional Article 1 titled “Qualified Service Center” was added to Law No. 4875 on Foreign Direct Investment. Through this amendment, the concept of a “qualified service center” has been defined for the first time under Turkish law, and the scope of activities of such centers has been regulated on a statutory basis.

2. Situation Prior to the Amendment

Under the previous version of Law No. 4875:

• There was no definition of the concept of a qualified service center.
• Structures established in Türkiye by multinational companies to provide management, finance, human resources, information technology, and similar services to group companies were not granted a separate legal status under the Law and were evaluated within the framework of general corporate and investment legislation.

Accordingly, this amendment should be regarded not as a modification of an existing regulation but rather as the introduction of a new legal institution into the Turkish legal system.

3. The Concept of a Qualified Service Center

Pursuant to Additional Article 1, for a company to be recognized as a qualified service center, it must:

• Be incorporated as a capital company;
• Be affiliated with a group of companies actively operating in at least three different countries;
• Provide services to related companies or the group of companies;
• Derive at least 80% of its annual revenue from related companies located abroad.

4. Services Falling Within the Scope of Qualified Services

The Law provides a detailed list of services that may be offered by qualified service centers, including:

• Financial consultancy;
• Strategic management consultancy;
• Risk management;
• Cash and liquidity management;
• Funding and borrowing transactions;
• Investment and capital structure planning;
• Budgeting;
• Financial reporting and analysis;
• International accounting and compliance;
• Audit services;
• Digital transformation and technology consultancy;
• Investment and data analysis;
• Legal consultancy;
• Promotion and marketing support;
• Brand management;
• Human resources and training services;
• Coordination and management services related to the foregoing activities.

In addition, qualified service centers may provide coordination and management services relating to:

• Sales;
• After-sales support;
• Technical support;
• Research and development;
• Outsourcing/procurement;
• Testing of newly developed products;
• Laboratory services.

However, Additional Article 1 introduces an important restriction with respect to legal consultancy services.

Accordingly, legal consultancy services concerning Turkish law or activities conducted in Türkiye may only be obtained from lawyers or law partnerships operating pursuant to the provisions of the Attorneyship Law No. 1136.

5. The Concept of Qualified Service Personnel

The regulation also defines the concept of "qualified service personnel".

Accordingly:

• Employees who directly perform the services covered under Additional Article 1 shall be deemed qualified service personnel;
• Support personnel shall be excluded from this scope.

6. Assessment

Although the amendment dated 04.06.2026 does not alter the fundamental principle of investment freedom embodied in Law No. 4875, it establishes, for the first time, a specific legal framework governing the regional service activities carried out in Türkiye by multinational enterprises through the introduction of the concept of a qualified service center.

In this respect, the amendment may be viewed as a new investment policy initiative aimed not only at attracting foreign manufacturing investments but also at encouraging high value-added service activities such as finance, technology, management, accounting, and consultancy services to be conducted in Türkiye.