Önder Perçin

Önder is Of Counsel at Igniters Tech Law, where he supports the firm's banking, finance, cryptocurrency, and fintech practice and brings to that role a depth of expertise, institutional knowledge, and regulatory authority that places him in a category of his own. Widely regarded as one of the foremost fintech lawyers in Türkiye, Önder's practice is the product of a career spent not merely advising on the rules, but helping write them, enforce them, and shape the regulatory architecture that governs the Turkish financial system.

Önder graduated from Ankara University Faculty of Law in 1999 and completed his legal traineeship with the Ankara Bar Association in 2000. He then joined the Turkish Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency, where he would spend nearly two decades building an unparalleled record of institutional leadership. During his tenure, he served in both the Department of Legal Affairs and the Department of Financial Consumer Relations, holding a series of increasingly senior responsibilities. He served on the Macroprudential Measures team, acted as chief counsel within the Financial Consumer Relations Department, chaired the Special Commission on Banking and Customer Secrecy, coordinated major criminal and civil litigation on behalf of the agency, and served as technical spokesperson for Banking Law No. 5411 before the Turkish Grand National Assembly's Plan and Budget Commission. He departed BRSA in 2017 as Chief Banking Expert following the agency's relocation from Ankara to Istanbul.

The cases Önder handled during his time at BRSA are not footnotes; they are defining chapters in Turkish banking history. He represented BRSA before civil, criminal, and administrative courts and coordinated some of the most consequential proceedings the Turkish financial system has ever seen, including matters involving İmarbank, Demirbank, Kentbank, Bayındırbank, and İhlas Finans Kurumu. He also worked on domestic and international sale agreements, legal due diligence studies, and secondary banking legislation for institutions transferred to the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund, including Sümerbank, Demirbank Romania, and Romlease. For any client operating in regulated financial services, the ability to retain counsel who has sat on the other side of these proceedings and helped build the regulatory framework itself is an advantage that simply cannot be replicated.

Following his departure from BRSA, Önder turned his regulatory mastery toward the private sector, advising financial institutions, fintech companies, and entrepreneurs on the full spectrum of regulatory challenges that define the modern financial landscape. His work in this period has included advising on the formation of cryptocurrency exchanges and payment systems companies, and assessing the legal feasibility of next-generation financial and fintech projects, making him one of the most experienced voices in Türkiye on the legal architecture of digital finance.

Önder's academic credentials are equally formidable. He holds M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Political Science and Public Administration from the Public Administration Institute for Türkiye and the Middle East, an LL.M. from UC Berkeley, and a Ph.D. from Ankara University's Social Sciences Institute. He has organized lectures and seminars for graduate students both domestically and internationally, and has published extensively, conference papers, articles, and books, on the responsibilities and practice areas of independent regulatory bodies such as BRSA and the Turkish Competition Authority, and their interaction with the law. In 2022, he took yet another step toward defining the field: he initiated the establishment of the Fintech Law Commission of the Union of Turkish Bar Associations and was elected its spokesperson, a recognition by the broader Turkish legal community of the authority and vision he brings to this rapidly evolving area of law.

For clients operating at the frontier of financial services, digital assets, and regulatory compliance in Türkiye, Önder is not just a trusted advisor; he is the standard by which expertise in this field is measured.