Turkey Probes Big Four Audit Firms for Anticompetitive Practices

Turkey's Rekabet Kurulu has opened an antitrust investigation into 65 companies in the auditing and financial advisory sector, targeting the Turkish units of all four Big Four firms: KPMG, PwC, Deloitte and EY. The probe examines some of the most serious anticompetitive behaviors a regulator can allege, covering both what firms charge clients and what they pay their workers.

The Competition Board decided at its Jan. 29, 2026 meeting to determine whether Article 4 of Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition was violated. The scope is broad. "The Competition Board, at its meeting on Jan. 29, 2026, decided to determine whether Article 4 of the Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition was violated by making price fixing and customer sharing agreements in service (output) markets, and non-poaching and wage fixing labor agreements (input) markets; exchanging information regarding both input and output markets; and also taking decisions of undertaking associations that restrict competition," the authority's statement read.

In plain terms, regulators want to know whether competing firms coordinated to set prices for audit and advisory services, agreed not to poach each other's employees, suppressed wages, divided up client portfolios, and used industry association structures to enforce those arrangements. The authority is also examining whether any of that information-sharing harmed workers' rights or blocked new entrants from competing.

That labor market dimension sets this probe apart from standard price-fixing investigations. Turkish authorities are explicitly assessing whether firms exchanged employment-practice information that depressed wages across the sector, and whether agreements or communications shaped hiring decisions in ways that reduced employee mobility and bargaining power. For KPMG staff in Turkey, that means the investigation touches directly on whether the compensation and career options they've experienced were shaped by coordination among the very firms competing for their services.

The 65 companies under scrutiny include not just the Big Four local units but also professional organizations active in the auditing and financial advisory space. The full list of entities has not been made public.

KPMG and EY declined to comment. Deloitte and PwC were not immediately available for comment. No firm has publicly disputed the investigation or addressed the specific allegations.

The probe carries real stakes. Article 4 of Law No. 4054 is Turkey's core prohibition on anticompetitive agreements, and violations can result in significant administrative fines. The authority has not disclosed whether the investigation involves document requests, inspections, or other procedural steps beyond the board's formal decision to open the inquiry.

For the Big Four's Turkey operations, the coming months will test whether internal compliance frameworks hold up under regulatory scrutiny. The inclusion of labor market conduct alongside service pricing signals that the Rekabet Kurulu is treating the audit sector's employment practices as a competition issue, not just an HR one.