A power of attorney that completes a property purchase without comment can be refused the same afternoon at a bank counter. Turkish banks apply the strictest reading of any institution a foreign client will encounter, and they apply it to a clause most people treat as boilerplate. This article is about that clause: what it must say, how to limit it safely, and why "all banking transactions" is not enough.
Why banks read it hardest
A bank accepting a power of attorney is accepting responsibility. Under anti-money-laundering legislation it must identify its customer and understand the relationship; where an attorney appears instead of the customer, the bank's compliance function decides whether the document supports that.
The result is a set of institutional requirements that differ between banks, between branches, and over time. A document accepted last year may be questioned this year. None of this is arbitrary from the bank's perspective, and none of it is negotiable at the counter.
What the clause must actually authorise
Draft it as an enumeration, not a summary. The authorities a full banking clause should contain:
- Opening accounts in the principal's name — specifying types where known: current, savings, time deposit, foreign currency, investment.
- Operating accounts: depositing, withdrawing, transferring domestically and internationally.
- Currency conversion, and expressly requesting and receiving the foreign exchange purchase document (DAB) — the document an investment file may later depend on.
- Signing the bank's account contracts, framework agreements and forms.
- Requesting and receiving statements, balance certificates, reference letters and correspondence.
- Giving and revoking payment instructions and standing orders.
- Activating internet and mobile banking and receiving the credentials, if that is intended.
- Applying for and receiving cards and cheque books, if needed.
- Closing accounts and receiving the balance.
- Appointing a substitute.
Naming the bank helps considerably, and naming two or three costs nothing at drafting. Adding an institution afterwards means reissuing the document from abroad.
What "general" wording fails to do
Consider the difference in practice. A clause authorising the attorney "to carry out banking transactions" leaves open whether they may open an account at all, whether they may transfer funds abroad, and whether they may close the account and take the balance. A compliance officer asked to accept it is being asked to interpret, and interpretation is precisely what they will decline to do.
By contrast, a clause that says the attorney may open a current and a foreign currency account at a named bank, deposit funds received from abroad, convert currency and obtain the DAB, transfer the converted sum to a named seller, and receive statements, tells the officer exactly what is authorised and what is not.
The second version is longer and is accepted. That is the whole of the drafting advice.
Limiting it safely
A banking power of attorney lets another person move your money, so scope it deliberately:
- Purpose-limit it. Where the account exists for a property purchase, say so and confine the authorities accordingly.
- Consider a monetary ceiling on transfers, where the transaction size is known. Banks can work with a stated limit.
- Consider an expiry date. A document for a single transaction does not need to survive it.
- Exclude borrowing and security. There is rarely a reason for an attorney to be able to take a loan or pledge assets in your name.
- Think about internet banking. Granting it is convenient and hands over ongoing access; withholding it means the attorney must attend the branch for each step.
- Name the attorney precisely, with identity number and, for a lawyer, bar registration.
Instructing a lawyer registered with a bar association rather than an acquaintance matters here more than anywhere else in a file: professional obligations, disciplinary supervision and insurance exist on one side of that choice and not the other.
What the attorney must bring beyond the document
A valid clause gets past the threshold question. The substantive compliance questions remain, and the attorney should arrive able to answer them:
- the principal's passport copy and tax number;
- the purpose of the account, with documentation — a draft sale contract, an investment mandate;
- source-of-funds evidence: where the money originated and how it will arrive;
- expected activity on the account;
- contact details, including a telephone number for security messaging.
An attorney who presents only the power of attorney is asking a bank to open an account for someone about whom it knows nothing.
The DAB clause, specifically
One line deserves separate emphasis for investors.
Where foreign currency is converted into lira in Türkiye, the bank issues a foreign exchange purchase document recording the conversion. For a citizenship investment file, that document evidences that the capital entered the country as foreign currency — and it cannot ordinarily be created after the event.
If the attorney is handling the conversion, the power of attorney should expressly authorise them to request and receive it. An attorney without that authority may complete the conversion and leave without the document, and the omission surfaces at the ministry months later.
Revocation
Revoke by an azilname issued at a consulate or notary and entered in the Turkish notarial system. Two practical points: revocation takes effect when properly registered and notified, so acts done in good faith before that may bind you; and the bank should be notified directly rather than left to discover it.
Where a document was purpose-limited or carried an expiry date, this problem largely disappears — which is the argument for drafting it that way in the first place.
Frequently asked questions
Will every bank accept a power of attorney? No. Requirements differ and some branches decline. Confirm before drafting.
Should I name the bank? Yes where known, and consider naming alternatives.
Can I set a transfer limit? Yes, and banks can work with a stated ceiling.
Should the attorney have internet banking access? A deliberate decision, not a default.
Does the document need a photograph? Not universally for banking; include one, since it is required for land registry use.
Can one document cover the purchase and the account? Yes, and it should.
What if the bank still refuses? Another institution may accept it. This is policy rather than law.
One clause, drafted once
The banking clause is a paragraph that either opens an account or wastes a month. Every failure described here is a drafting failure, made before an appointment on the other side of the world and discovered at a counter in Türkiye.
Dural Hukuk drafts banking clauses checked against the requirements of the specific institution, opens and operates accounts for clients abroad, and prepares the source-of-funds documentation compliance departments ask for. Call +90 535 260 74 54 or use the contact form on this site.
This article is general information on Turkish law and banking practice as at August 2026 and is not legal advice. Bank requirements vary and change; confirm before issuing documents.