Sustainability Audit Regulation Has Been Published

The Draft Regulation on Sustainability Audit (“Draft Regulation“), which was opened to public opinion in October 2024, has been published in the Official Gazette on January 17, 2025, with some amendments, and has come into effect as the Sustainability Audit Regulation (“Regulation“). In parallel with the Draft Regulation, the Regulation governs sustainability audits, authorization of independent audit firms and auditors, reporting processes and administrative sanctions within the framework of the relevant legislation. According to the Regulation, sustainability audit is performed to assess whether the specified criteria are met and to form an opinion that provides assurance in accordance with Turkish Auditing Standards (“TDS”).

In this audit process, compliance with the Turkish Sustainability Reporting Standards and other relevant regulations will be evaluated based on the established criteria, while the decision-making authority for unestablished criteria will lie with the Public Oversight Authority (“Authority“).

Sustainability audits can be carried out by independent audit firms and auditors who meet the requirements set out in the Regulation and hold an authorization certificate from the Authority, proving their competence in the field of sustainability.

The report prepared as a result of the sustainability audit will be in compliance with the TDS and audit firms and auditors will be legally responsible for any damages arising from non-compliance with TDS, as well as for any false, incomplete, or misleading information and opinions in their reports.

The Authority has the right to review the audit activities of audit firms within the framework of selected audit files, other information, notifications, and documents, and will announce the results of these reviews to the public on an annual basis. During these reviews and/or in cases where violations are detected through complaints or whistleblowing, the Authority has the right to impose sanctions on the audit firm and auditor, such as issuing warnings or notices, restricting activities, suspending or revoking their operational license.

Differences with the Draft Regulation:

• The continuous education programs mentioned within the scope of the Draft Regulation have been clarified as those under the Independent Auditing Regulation, making the arrangement parallel to the Independent Auditing Regulation.
• The condition for returning the authorization certificate in case of cancellation of the activity license is included in both the Draft and the final Regulation, but the provision stating that non-compliance will be reported to the Public Prosecutor’s Office has been removed from the final Regulation.
• The requirement for audit firms to have a “Sustainability Guide” as part of their authorization criteria will not be enforced until 31/12/2026. Firms authorized under this provision must establish their sustainability guides by 30/06/2027.
• According to the last amendment, the Authority is now authorized to extend the deadlines mentioned in the transitional provision, up to a maximum of 3 years, as opposed to the 1-year period originally foreseen in the Draft Regulation.

 You can find detailed information about the Draft Regulation, auditors and auditing criteria in the in our article titled  DRAFT REGULATION ON SUSTAINABILITY AUDIT IS SUBMITTED TO PUBLIC’S VIEW – Pekin | Bayar | Mizrahi Law Firm on our website.