The Regulation on the Operations of Banks subject to Permissions and Indirect Shareholdings was amended on 4 February 2011. As per the amendment, the establishment of domestic partnerships and the participation in established partnerships by banks are subject to the permission of the Banking Regulation and Supervision Board (the “BRSB”). Banks are further obliged to comply with corporate governance principles and preventive provisions stipulated in the Banking Law (published in the Official Gazette dated November 1, 2005 and numbered 25983(bis)) (Law No. 5411) (the “Banking Law”). Applications for permissions are to be made to the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (the “BRSA”) together with a report explaining in detail the reasons for the establishment of the partnership or participating in an established partnership. It is worth noting that the foregoing requirements will not apply to participating in trading stock investments, share acquisitions made for the purpose of the collection of receivables and participating in capital increases of partnerships.