Amendment to the General Communiqué of the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (No. 5)
The Communiqué on the Amendment to the General Communiqué of the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (No. 5) (No. 31) (“Amending Communiqué”) was published in the Official Gazette dated January 7, 2026 and numbered 33130.
As is known, the General Communiqué of the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (No. 5) (“Communiqué”) sets out regulations regarding simplified measures within the scope of the principle of customer due diligence regulated under Chapter Three of the Regulation on Measures Regarding the Prevention of Laundering of Proceeds of Crime and Financing of Terrorism (“Regulation”).
With the Amending Communiqué, amendments have been made to the following provisions of the Communiqué:
- Article 2.1 titled Nature and Limits of Simplified Measures,
- Article 2.2.7 titled Transactions Related to Pension Contracts, Pension Plans and Life Insurance Contracts,
- Article 2.2.10 titled Obliged Parties Conducting Games of Chance and Betting Activities Exclusively in Electronic Environment, and
- Article 2.2.12 titled Transactions Related to Electronic Commerce Intermediary Service Providers.
- In addition, Article 2.2.13, titled Identification in Bank Accounts Opened Upon the Request of Public Institutions and Organizations for the Purpose of Making Mandatory Payments, has been added to the Communiqué.
1. Regarding Article 2.1 titled Nature and Limits of Simplified Measures
The phrase “and in cases where the customer is a foreign politically exposed person” has been inserted into the fifth paragraph of Article 2.1, following the phrase “in the assessed transactions.”
The fifth paragraph of the relevant article provides that obliged parties are required to assess the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing separately for each transaction. Accordingly, it has been stipulated that simplified measures may not be applied in transactions assessed as risky and in cases where the customer is a foreign politically exposed person.
2. Regarding Article 2.2.7 titled Transactions Related to Pension Contracts, Pension Plans and Life Insurance Contracts
The phrase “Contracts” in the title of Article 2.2.7 has been amended to “Contracts and Other Insurance Contracts.” Accordingly, the new title of the article has become Transactions Related to Pension Contracts, Pension Plans and Life Insurance Contracts and Other Insurance Contracts.
In addition, a new paragraph has been added to Article 2.2.7. stating that simplified measures will be applied for identity verification under certain conditions. Pursuant to the paragraph, in cases where insurance and pension companies make damage and compensation payments to third parties other than the policyholder or the insured, verification of identity information in accordance with the procedures set forth in the relevant articles of the Regulation and obtaining a specimen signature shall not be mandatory, provided that the third party’s identity information is verified by querying the database of the General Directorate of Population and Citizenship Affairs of the Ministry of Interior and that the payments are made through a bank account consistent with the third party’s identity information.
3. Regarding Article 2.2.10 titled Obligors Conducting Lottery and Betting Game Activities Exclusively in Electronic Environments
Pursuant to Article 2.2.10 of the Communiqué, virtual environment dealers who conduct all of their commercial activities exclusively in an electronic environment in accordance with the legislation to which they are subject are not required to verify the identity information of their customers in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 6 of the Regulation governing the identification of real persons or to obtain a signature sample, provided that they meet the conditions specified in the article.
The phrase “or credit card account” has been removed from the condition “All collections and payments shall be made through a bank account or credit card account that matches the identity information of the customer whose identity information has been verified and accepted,” which is one of the conditions in the article. This amendment stipulates that simplified measures cannot be applied to customers who make collections and payments through a credit card account.
On the other hand, in accordance with the new paragraph added to the article, in order to verify identity information prior to customer acceptance, it is mandatory for the obligated party to transfer money from a bank account that matches the identity information of the customer to be accepted to a verification account created for this purpose. Furthermore, it is stipulated that customer acceptance cannot be made and no service can be provided to the customer until this transfer is completed.
4. Regarding Article 2.2.12 titled Transactions Related to Electronic Commerce Intermediary Service Providers
The same paragraph added to Article 2.2.10 has also been added to Article 2.2.12. Accordingly, in order to verify identity information prior to customer,iç acceptance, it has been stipulated that a fund transfer must be made from a bank account consistent with the identity information of the customer to be accepted to a verification account established by the obliged party for this purpose.
Furthermore, it is stipulated that customer acceptance cannot be made and no service can be provided to the customer until the aforementioned transfer is completed.
5. Newly Added Article 2.2.13 titled Identification in Bank Accounts Opened Upon the Request of Public Institutions and Organizations for the Purpose of Making Mandatory Payments
With this article, the procedures, principles, and simplified measures to be applied in bank accounts opened upon the written request of public institutions and organizations, for the purpose of making mandatory payments to right holders pursuant to the relevant legislation, are regulated, provided that identity identification is completed no later than prior to the payment transaction to the right holder.
In this context, it is stipulated that it shall not be mandatory to additionally verify the customer's identity information in accordance with the procedure set forth in Article 6 of the Regulation and to obtain a signature sample, provided that the information belonging to real and legal persons is verified by querying the database of the General Directorate of Population and Citizenship Affairs of the Ministry of Interior.
Furthermore, the obligations under Article 17 of the Regulation titled “Identification of Persons Acting on Behalf of Others” and the verification obligations under Article 17/A titled “Identification of the Beneficial Owner” may not apply to the aforementioned transactions. and, again limited to these transactions, the frequency of monitoring the customer within the scope of the ongoing business relationship and updating information, documents, and records in accordance with Article 19 of the Regulation may be reduced.
Finally, it is emphasized that accounts opened under this article may not be used until identity verification is performed in accordance with the relevant articles of the Regulation.
It has been stated that the paragraphs added to Articles 2.2.10 and 2.2.12 of the Communiqué, the provisions of which will be enforced by the Ministry of Treasury and Finance, shall enter into force on 1 February 2026, while the remaining provisions shall enter into force on 7 January 2026, the date of publication of the Amending Communiqué.
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