DIFFERENCES BETWEEN A JOINT STOCK COMPANY AND A LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY
The following are some of the most important differences between a Joint Stock Company and a Limited Liability Company under Turkish laws :
• There is no minimum or maximum number of shareholders for Joint Stock Company; otherwise the maximum shareholders number for Limited Liability Company is 50.
Neither A Joint Stock Company nor a limited Liability Company require any Turkish shareholders. (i.e., they may be 100% foreign-owned).
• The minimum capital required for a limited Liability Company is 10.000 Turkish Liras opposed to 50.000 Turkish Liras as original capital and 100.000 Turkish Liras as registered capital for Joint Stock Companies.
• A Joint Stock Company is managed by its board of directors. A limited Liability Company does not have a board of directors but is managed instead by its manager or board of managers.
• In some circumstances, such Joint Stock Company the amendment of the articles of association, the Turkish Commercial Code offers Limited Liability Company minority shareholders more protection then Joint Stock Company minority shareholders. However, similar protection may be provided for in the articles of association of a Joint Stock Company.
• If a shareholder of a Limited Liability Company becomes bankrupt, the Turkish bankruptcy authorities or a creditor of such shareholder which has attached such shareholder's shares may, with six months' prior notice, start liquidation proceedings against the Limited Liability Company unless the debt of the bankrupt shareholder is discharged by the other shareholders of the Limited Liability Company or unless the shares of the bankrupt shareholder in the Limited Liability Company are transferred to the other shareholders or third parties.
• Limited Liability Company shareholders, unlike Joint Stock Company shareholders, may be liable for amounts owed by the Limited Liability Company to government authorities for taxes, duties and charges without any limitation with proportion to their capital contribution if the company cannot make the required payments (i.e., their liability in this respect is not limited to their own capital contribution).
