Legal structure, powers, duties and responsibilities of senior management of the bank in The Turkish banking system

In this study, the general manager, deputy general managers of the bank and managers working in equal or higher positions, who are referred to as "senior management" in the Banking Legislation, who have the qualifications specified in Article 25 of the Banking Law, are taken into consideration and their legal status, rights, powers, duties and responsibilities are examined. Although banks are established in the form of joint stock companies, the general manager, deputy general managers and managers working in equivalent or higher positions have different powers, duties and responsibilities and different financial and social rights than other company managers. The senior management of the Bank is a body whose existence is mandatory for the bank to start operating, whose powers and duties are determined by law or by the delegation of authority carried out by the board of directors, and which assumes extremely serious risks and responsibilities, and is regulated not only in general laws but also in special laws, regulations, communiqués and good practice guides such as the Banking Law. In the study, it has been clarified which of the articles in the Turkish Commercial Code, which include expressions such as board membership, managers, managers or senior managers, will be applied to the senior management of the bank, and the provisions in the banking legislation and other relevant legislation have been determined together with their examples in practice. Taking into account the risks that the Bank's senior management carries due to their powers and duties, their financial and social rights are specifically regulated by both the legislation and the service contracts they have made with the bank, and these have been determined. In the event that a loss has arisen while the senior management is exercising its powers and performing its duties, it is possible for them to compensate for this damage and to be directly bankrupted, and this situation causes the senior management to be hesitant and not want to take risks in their decisions regarding the bank, and the reasons that relieve or reduce responsibility gain great importance. Likewise, in recent years, executive liability insurance (D&O insurance) has been requested and its use has become widespread against the risks of senior management, and how these will affect the responsibilities of senior management has also been examined. Keywords: Bank senior managers, senior management, bank general managers and their assistants, financial rights of the bank's senior management, authority, duties and responsibilities of the bank's senior management