Download This PaperConvergence of Laws and Its Limits: A Case Study of Turkish and EU Laws on Auditing
Journal of Commercial and Intellectual Property Law, 2019
22 Pages Posted: 11 May 2020 Last revised: 8 Apr 2021
Date Written: July 1, 2019
Abstract
Classifications on the world’s legal systems have long been the subject to studies in comparative law. The modern comparative approach however, no longer relies solely on the classic categorization of common-civil law countries. This general classification fails to consider that legal systems can change through time and not all areas of law share the same patterns. For instance, firms (and countries) adopt international rules and standards voluntarily. This kind of convergence can mostly appear in the field of commercial law, including the field of auditing where the effect of economic integration of markets is in place. In this respect, in order to be a part of the global economy and to attract foreign direct investment, Turkey reformed its commercial law and capital markets law. In addition, there are political forces for convergence such as the EU requirement for Turkey to adopt EU laws. This paper critically investigates the forces for convergence and questions to what extent the laws on auditing are converging between EU and Turkey. It concludes that despite the formal convergence, actual convergence has not been achieved fully and differences still persist due to the institutional disparities.
Keywords: corporate governance, external audit, convergence
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