Endekse dayalı vadeli işlem sözleşmelerinin muhasebeleştirilmesi ve vergilendirilmesinde sorunlar ve çözüm önerileri

Abstract

ACCOUNTANCY AND TAXATION OF THE INDEX FUTURES CONTRACTS PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS SUMMARY Today, as we have been experiencing rapid changes in the financial markets, derivative markets play an important role in realizing aims, such as, contributing to the use and allocation of resources in the economy, having a place among the developed capital markets and integrating to these markets while increasing the level of development of capital markets. Istanbul Stock Exchange was established in January 1st 1986 with 42 companies traded on the `exchange. The number of companies traded on the- exchange climbed to 315 and the total market capitalization of the companies traded reached to US$ 70 billion as of December 2000. Today ISE is attractive not only for the local investors but also for the foreign investors. Although the figures has increased tremendously over a relatively short period, they are not comparable to the figuresin the developed markets. Once the fundamental economic obstacles are overcame, Turkey's capital market will distinguish itself with a significant growth prospect. One of the main problems in our stock market is that, the market share of the institutional investors, such as investment funds, insurance companies or pension funds, is relatively very small when compared to their share in developed markets. There is no doubt that the lack of hedging instruments in the market is one of the main reason for this small number of institutional investors in Turkey. Institutional investors seek to cover their risks associated with their transactions. Today, the risk management concept has become more important as we have been experiencing local and global crisis. Therefore, index futures contracts are considered as an important risk management instrument for institutional investors. Index futures contracts were developed in 1970's to eliminate the risks of the institutional investors who are the main actors in the capital markets. These contracts were first traded in USA, 1982. Today, 34 countries have index futures markets. According to International Federation of Stock Exchanges (FIBV) figures; in 1999, 208 million index futures contracts have been exchanged with total nominal value of US$ 25.000 billion. These figures prove that index futures %?,contracts are used as effective risk management instruments by institutional investors. The Derivatives Market Department in ISE was established on the 3rd of May 1 994 in order to provide portfolio management and risk transfer opportunities to market participants, particularly to institutional, large scale investors and portfolio managers. The new market was expected to increase liquidity and depth of spot markets. The initial objective was to launch the index futures contracts as the first product, however with the adoption of the free-floating currency regime in February 2001, the exchange rates have become very volatile and as a result the establishment of the currency futures market was accelerated. On August 15th, 2001, the first futures contract on TL/USD rate was launched with the maturity date of September 27, 2001. The aims of this thesis are to examine; the applications in the countries where index futures ' contracts are traded, the rules for pricing, market mechanism and margin requirements and finally to find answers to the possible questions about the accounting principles and taxation issues in the frame of current legislation.In Chapter 1; the information about the history and development of derivative instruments are given briefly. Information about the markets where index futures contracts are traded and the definitions of the basics concepts in these markets are also provided. Chapter 2 deals with the trading systems and principles for collateral and margin requirement in international markets where index futures are traded. Further in this ^chapter, technical details such as the indices on which futures contracts based, contract sizes, trading volumes, maximum positions, price increments and other contracts terms are examined. Suggestions on these parameters for the applications in ISE derivative markets are also given in this chapter. Current legislation designated to regulate the derivatives markets in Turkey is discussed in Chapter 3. The rules that should be followed by the parties (exchange market, clearing house, brokerage houses and investors), types and criteria for market and clearing membership, and general principles for transaction and clearing are discussed further in this chapter too. The rules and regulations about the index futures contracts are analyzed in detail.. t rffChapter 4 focuses on three issues; the legal framework of the index futures, legal responsibilities of brokerage houses and investors in the view of current taxation regulations and kind of taxes which the index futures contracts are subject to. Finally Chapter 5 addresses the accounting principles of derivative markets transactions. How these transactions are recorded according to international accounting standards and what are the regulations specified by The Banks Association of Turkey and Capital Market Board are covered in this chapter also. At the end of this chapter samples on accounting records of index futures contracts are demeonstrated.. In the conclusion chapter, proposals to improve derivative markets properties such as liquidity and trading volume indicators, regulatory suggestions on contract spesifications, margin requirements, taxation and accounting issues in the Turkish derivatives market are given. r n