A. INTRODUCTION

With the Communiqué (Serial No: 23) Amending the General Communiqué of the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (Serial No: 5) ("Amending Communiqué") prepared by the Ministry of Treasury and Finance and published in the Official Gazette dated 11.02.2023 and numbered 32101, a provisional article has been added to the General Communiqué of the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (Serial No: 5) ("Communiqué"). The full text of the Amending Communiqué is available here.

The Communiqué regulates the simplified measures to be complied with within the scope of customer recognition by obligors under the Regulation on Measures Regarding Prevention of Laundering Proceeds of Crime and Financing of Terrorism published in the Official Gazette dated 09.01.2008 and numbered 26751 ("Regulation"). With the provisional article added to the Communiqué by the Amending Communiqué, certain flexibilities have been introduced to facilitate the implementation of the identification procedure for earthquake victims in order to ensure that the financial services can be continued without any problem in the provinces of Adana, Adıyaman, Diyarbakır, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kahramanmaraş, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye and Şanlıurfa where a state of emergency has been declared.

B. FLEXIBILITIES INTRODUCED BY THE AMENDING COMMUNIQUÉ

a) Flexibilities Introduced Regarding the Identification Procedure for Real Persons

Within one month from 08.02.2023, in the event that the identification pursuant to article 6 of the Regulation with the title "Identification of Real Persons" cannot be made in the manner specified in the said article in transactions to be carried out in the provinces where a state of emergency has been declared, those transactions can be made (i) by checking whether any document showing the identity including but not limited to the identity documents listed in Article 6 of the Regulation pair with at least four of the information listed in article 6 of the Regulation or, (ii) if this is not possible, by checking through the identity sharing system database of the General Directorate of Population and Citizenship Affairs of the Ministry of Interior whether the identity information declared by the person who wants to make the transaction pair with at least four of the information listed in Article 6 of the Regulation, provided that:

  1. the address and contact information and signature samples are obtained,
  2. if available, the customer is compared with the photograph on the identification document in the obliged party's records, and
  3. other measures deemed necessary are taken.

b) Flexibilities Introduced Regarding the Identification Procedure in Subsequent Transactions

Within one month from 08.02.2023, the identification procedures within the scope of article 16 of the Regulation with the title "Identification in Subsequent Procedures" in the transactions to be carried out in the provinces where a state of emergency has been declared can be made (i) by checking whether any document showing the identity including but not limited to the identity documents listed in Article 6 of the Regulation pair with at least four of the information listed in Article 6 of the Regulation or, (ii) if this is not possible, by checking through the identity sharing system database of the General Directorate of Population and Citizenship Affairs of the Ministry of Interior whether the identity information declared by the person who wants to make the transaction pair with at least four of the information listed in Article 6 of the Regulation, provided that:

  1. if available, the customer is compared with the photograph on the identification document in the obliged party's records, and
  2. other measures deemed necessary are taken.

c) Application in Other Provinces

The flexibilities introduced to the identification procedures will also apply to persons whose residential addresses are in those provinces where a state of emergency has been declared but who are in other provinces due to the disaster.

d) Implementation Period of the Flexibilities

In permanent business relationships established by identification, it is obligatory to identify the customer in accordance with the procedure set out in article 6 of the Regulation on the date of the first transaction request and before the transaction is executed after one month from 08.02.2023 has passed.

e) Extension of Time Periods

The Financial Crimes Investigation Board is authorized to extend the periods for the implementation of the flexibilities introduced by the provisional article.

C. EFFECTIVE DATE

The Amending Communiqué published in the Official Gazette dated 11.02.2023 and numbered 32101 entered into force on the date of its publication and valid from 08.02.2023.

D. CONCLUSION

With the flexibilities introduced by the Amending Communiqué, it is aimed to prevent earthquake victims to suffer due to the loss or uselessness of their identification documents while carrying out their transactions before banks, intermediary institutions and other obligors listed in the Regulation.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.