Museum items from the Grand Bazaar, Istanbul - liquidation stamp on the Tramways & Electricite de Constantinople Societe Anonyme

I have recently returned from a short holiday in Istanbul. Whilst there I had in mind the recent article by Chief Registrar Baister on the country's insolvency provisions (see: Baister, S & Altynsoy, E. The bankruptcy law of the Republic of Turkey (2009) 2 CRI 67) and the ways in which Turkey dealt with individual insolvents in the past. Whilst hunting down a fez in the Grand Bazaar I came across what must now be accounted one of the Muir Hunter Museum of Bankruptcy's more obscure items. We now have added to the collection a bond certificate of the Tramways & Electricite de Constantinople Societe Anonyme (pictured). The item has been stamped with a liquidation stamp (pictured below) noting "Societe mise en Liquidation, 13 Decembre 1938."

As soon as I have undertaken more research on the company and the document I will update this post with details on the company's decline into liquidation. In the interim, one authoritative source notes; "on June 30th 1914, all parties in the Consortium of Constantinople gave their blessing to strengthen their powerful alliance in energy and public transport into a single mega-company, the Brussels based “Tramways et Electricité de Constantinople”, to be run on day to day basis by the Belgian group Sofina." Don't worry readers I also found a fez!