MASAK Published Draft Communique Aimed at Increasing Transparency and Monitoring in Financial Transactions

With the Draft General Communique MASAK Serial No. 30 published by the Financial Crimes Investigation Board ("MASAK") on August 1, 2025, aimed at increasing transparency in EFT, transfer and cash transactions carried out through financial institutions, preventing informality and strengthening the security of the financial system, financial institutions will need to complete necessary development and operational adaptations by January 1, 2026.

The purpose of this Communique is to determine the procedures and principles of tightened measures to be taken by financial institutions within the scope of customer identification measures in order to combat money laundering, terrorism financing and the informal economy. Financial institutions should monitor cash transactions of unusual size or frequency, and obtain and store detailed information about the nature of the transaction when necessary.

Measures to be taken according to transaction amounts have been determined: For transactions between TRY 200,000 - 2,000,000, customers should be presented with transaction purpose options; for transactions between TRY 2,000,001 - 20,000,000, a Cash Transaction Declaration Form should be completed; for transactions of TRY 20,000,001 and above, the Cash Transaction Declaration Form should be completed in detail and supported with documents.

For transactions requiring the completion of a Cash Transaction Declaration Form, the customer's or the person conducting the transaction on behalf of the customer's approval may be obtained through a signature on the transaction receipt containing all information in the form, or through internet/mobile banking, SMS OTP, digital link or telephone banking.

Cash transactions made through ATMs not exceeding TRY 200,000, transactions carried out under correspondent banking, interbank transactions, transactions where the customer is a public institution, and transactions between accounts belonging to the same customer within the same financial institution are exempt. Administrative sanctions under Law No. 5549 will be applied in case of non-compliance with the Communique provisions.