FATF Highlights Improvements, Deficiencies in Supervisions on Türkiye's Crypto Asset Service Providers

In FATF's September 2026 Turkey assessment report published today, it was stated that crypto asset service providers (VASP) generally correctly assessed the money laundering risks they face and had comprehensive information about their obligations to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing.

However, the report stated that VASPs' risk awareness regarding terrorist financing is more limited compared to money laundering risks.

FATF also noted that after the transition to a risk-based inspection approach in Turkey in 2020, there was a significant increase in inspections to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. It was stated that the inspections focused especially on high-risk institutions and that the activities of the authorized institutions generally contributed positively to the compliance level of financial institutions and crypto asset service providers.

Deficiencies in PEP and suspicious transaction reports

The report emphasized that some important deficiencies continue in the implementation of obligations.

FATF reported that practices for detecting and monitoring politically exposed persons (PEPs) are only partially effective, and deficiencies in suspicious transaction reporting continue. It was also noted that suspicious transaction reports regarding terrorist financing remained at a low level in some high-risk sectors, including VASPs.

While it was stated that a relatively high number of violations continued to be detected in some sectors, including VASPs, as a result of the inspections, FATF also noted that there were deficiencies in the deterrence of the sanctions imposed against serious or systematic violations.

The effectiveness of the regulations could not be evaluated

FATF also underlined that the regulatory framework for crypto asset service providers in Turkey has recently come into force, but the implementation process has not yet been completed at the time of the on-site inspection held in November 2025.

According to the report, these regulations had not yet become fully applicable to all existing VASPs as of the review date. The FATF evaluation team was therefore unable to assess the effectiveness of the regulatory framework in practice.