The long-awaited legislative amendment of the Financial Crimes Investigation Board of the Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Treasury and Finance ('MASAK') took place on 25 December 2024.
Within the scope of the relevant amendment ('Amendment'), MASAK has made various amendments to the following regulations within the scope of MASAK legislation, taking into account the recent FATF guidelines and local reviews.
- Regulation on Measures to Prevent Laundering Proceeds of Crime and Financing of Terrorism ('Measures Regulation')
- Regulation on the Programme for Compliance with the Obligations Regarding the Prevention of Laundering Proceeds of Crime and Financing of Terrorism ('Compliance Regulation')
- Regulation on the Procedures and Principles Regarding the Electronic Notification System of the Financial Crimes Investigation Board ('E-Notification System Regulation')
- The Financial Crimes Investigation Board General Communique No: 5 ('Communiqué №5')
- The Financial Crimes Investigation Board General Communique No: 19 ('Communiqué №19')
- Regulation on Laundering Offence Investigation
The consequences of the Amendment for marketplaces, i.e. electronic commerce intermediary service providers ('ECISP'), are as follows.
ECISPs have been included in the status of obligors under the MASAK Legislation
With the amendment made to the Measures Regulation, ECISPs have been given the status of 'obliged' under the MASAK Legislation limited to the transactions carried out with electronic commerce service providers.
In this context, marketplaces within the scope of the AML legislation have become obliged party under MASAK regulation in terms of their transactions with sellers/providers ('ECSP').
Marketplaces do not have any obligation under the MASAK Legislation in terms of their transactions with the buyer, i.e. the end user.
It should be noted that not all marketplaces are affected by the Amendment , but only medium, large and very large-scale marketplaces within the scope of the Law No. 6563 on the Regulation of Electronic Commerce . Marketplaces below the relevant thresholds under the said legislation will not be affected by the said regulations.
The effective date of the relevant Amendment article is 25 February 2025. In this context, the obligations of the ECISPs that have become obliged under the MASAK Legislation will be valid as of this date.
No Exception is Provided to ECISPs in terms of MASAK Obligations
The new regulations do not recognise any special exceptions for ECISPs.
In this context, ECISPs will be subject to the obligations specified in the Law No. 5549 on the Prevention of Laundering Proceeds of Crime without exception.
!!! It should be noted that ECISPs do not have the status of 'Financial Institution' and therefore will not be subject to the obligations or facilities (e.g. Third Party Reliance) provided for these institutions under the legislation.
ECISPs are Enabled to Conduct Customer Due Diligence through Simplified Measures
With the addition made to Article 2.2.12 of the Communiqué No.5, the possibility to apply simplified measures during Customer Due Diligence has been introduced for ECISPs.
Within this scope, although the main rule for ECISPs is the face-to-face customer identification, if the following conditions are met, it is not obligatory for ECISPs to confirm the identity information of the ECSP within the scope of simplified measures within the framework of the procedure in Article 6 of the Measures Regulation and to obtain a signature sample.
- Bank Transfer. An agreement has been made with the bank resident in Türkiye that the collection and payment transactions regarding the goods or services offered will be carried out through electronic media,
- National ID Sharing System (KPS) Enquiry. Receiving the information in the first paragraph of Article 6 of the Regulation in the application received electronically by the real person resident in Türkiye, and confirming the name, surname, date of birth, nationality, Turkish ID number for Turkish citizens and foreign ID number for foreign nationals by querying the identity sharing system database of the General Directorate of Population and Citizenship Affairs of the Ministry of Interior,
- National Centralised Registration System (MERSIS) and Other Institutions Query. In the application received electronically by the legal person registered in the trade registry of the legal person resident in Türkiye, the information regarding the identity of the person authorised to represent the legal person shall be confirmed according to the procedure for real persons, and the information regarding the legal person (title, trade registry number, tax identification number, field of activity, open address of the legal person) shall be confirmed by querying the registration documents and records through the databases of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye, the Revenue Administration or other institutions that keep central records regarding this information,
- Foreign Electronic Commerce Service Providers (ETS). Obtaining the information required for ETSs resident in Türkiye in the application received electronically by the ETS resident in a foreign country, confirming this information through the documents submitted by the relevant persons and/or the open sources of the equivalent organisations of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye in the relevant country or other organisations where the data are kept officially,
- Compatible Account Requirement. All collections and payments to be made with the ECPs shall be made through a bank account or credit card account that is compatible with the customer's identity information, whose identity information has been confirmed and accepted.
It is not possible for ECISPs to perform remote identification within the scope of Communiqué No.19.
Due to the above-mentioned Bank Transfer Obligation, a rule has been introduced that the progress payments and payments received from the ETSPs identified within the scope of the simplified measure shall be made through the bank. This rule will not apply to ETSPs who have been identified face-to-face.
Transition Process to ECISPs is Defined
Temporary Article 2 of the Communiqué No.5 regulates the transition period of ECISPs.
Within this scope, ECISPs are obliged to bring the identification of their customers acquired before 25 February 2025 into compliance with the Communiqué No.5 until 25 April 2025 at the latest . At this point, it should be noted that no special deadline is set for ECISPs to perform face-to-face identification -without a simplified measure-.
At the same time, ECISPs are also obliged to take the necessary measures to ensure that ECISPs who have not requested any transaction by 25 April 2025 are reached for the purpose of identification.
In this respect, it is seen that an active obligation is imposed on ECISPs in terms of customers who have not been identified. Therefore, it is important that ECISPs should take the relevant steps and be able to evidence them in future audits.
If no transaction is requested by the ECISP within this period and the ECSP cannot be reached, the ECISPs are obliged to perform the harmonisation process on the date of the first transaction request of the ECSP and before the transaction is executed.
The Obligation To Appoint An Exclusive Compliance Officer Has Been İmposed On Ecısps
With the Amendment to Article 29 of the Compliance Regulation, the obligation to appoint a compliance officer exclusively for ECISPs has been introduced. The effective date of this obligation has been set as 25 February 2025.
In this context, ECISPs that are already in operation will be required to appoint a compliance officer in accordance with the framework set out in Articles 29, 30 and 31 of the Compliance Regulation and who meets the necessary conditions by 25 March 2025.
It should be noted that ECISPs are not included among the Obligors to Establish a Compliance Programme (Art.4 of the Compliance Regulation), therefore they do not need to take action in this regard.
General Assessment
Although the amendments have drawn attention only with the issue of identification, it should be noted that the obligations to which obliged parties are subject under the MASAK legislation are more than just identification.
In this context, ECISPs that become obliged are required to design these end-to-end processes and make the necessary improvements in their systems until the end of the period given for the relevant transition process.
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.
