ANKARA, TURKEY – The Turkish government is reportedly poised to significantly enhance the authority of its financial crime watchdog, granting it new powers to freeze or restrict access to both traditional bank accounts and cryptocurrency accounts. This move aims to bolster the nation's efforts in combating money laundering and other financial crimes, aligning its regulatory framework with international standards.
Key Takeaways:
- Turkey's government plans to empower its financial crime agency, MASAK, with new authority to freeze or restrict access to both traditional bank and cryptocurrency accounts.
- These proposed measures aim to combat money laundering and financial crime, ensuring Turkey's compliance with global standards set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
Alignment with Global Standards as Turkey Cracks Down on Financial Crime
According to a Bloomberg report, the Turkish government is preparing to grant its financial crimes investigation board, MASAK (Financial Crimes Investigation Board), expanded authorizations to freeze or restrict access to both traditional bank and cryptocurrency accounts. These sweeping new measures, intended to aid the agency in its fight against money laundering and broader financial crime, are expected to be introduced through a parliamentary bill.
The proposed powers would bring Turkey into closer alignment with the criteria established by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which removed Turkey from its "grey list" in June 2024. At that time, the FATF acknowledged that Turkey had significantly improved its mechanisms for combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism. By enabling MASAK to target illicit financial flows in both traditional and digital finance, Turkish authorities are reinforcing the country's determination to remain off the grey list.
This initiative follows previous regulatory action earlier this year when Turkey unveiled regulations granting the Capital Markets Board (CMB) comprehensive oversight of cryptocurrency platforms, establishing mandatory obligations for crypto-asset service providers.
The Bloomberg report further indicated that the new regulations would also authorize MASAK to blacklist cryptocurrency addresses linked to criminal activities and impose transaction limits. Anonymous sources cited in the report stated that a primary target of the bill is so-called "rented accounts." Authorities believe that criminals often pay or "rent" accounts from their legitimate owners to perpetrate fraud or engage in illegal betting activities.
The proposed measures are slated for inclusion in the 11th Judicial Package, which is expected to be formally submitted to parliament at the start of the new legislative year. However, Turkey's Ministry of Finance has yet to comment on the matter. The regulation remains subject to revision, either before its submission or during parliamentary deliberations, and there is no guarantee that it will be adopted in its current form.
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