Turkey 'still lagging behind' on corporate governance

Turkey has made notable improvements to corporate governance standards in recent years but still trails behind many of its neighbours, experts believe.

The Financial Times reports that concerns persist among investors and governance analysts, particularly with regard to the protection of minority shareholders and the high level of cross-ownership between family companies in Turkey.

In addition, the nation's relatively poor reputation for governance was confirmed by its ranking in the World Bank's Doing Business 2010 report, which placed it 73rd out of 183 economies.

Despite this, Tayfun Bayazit, chairman of the board for the Corporate Governance Association of Turkey, told the newspaper that improvements have been made in several key areas.

He indicated that Turkey's large organisations are becoming more aware of the importance of governance standards.

"We have definitely seen progress in disclosure and transparency, particularly among listed companies, although small unlisted firms are lagging behind," Mr Bayazit commented.

According to the Doing Business survey, 26 of the 27 economies in the Eastern European and Central Asia region reformed business regulation in some way between June 2008 and May 2009.