Compliance with money laundering (AML) and prevention of terrorism financing (CTF) as well as know your customer (KYC) regulations is of vital importance for financial institutions. Likewise, it is also of crucial importance for cryptoasset service providers (particularly cryptocurrency exchanges).

Licensed or not, a growing number of cryptocurrency exchanges operate in many countries around the world. The trading volume of cryptocurrencies and other crypto-based products mediated by these exchanges is constantly increasing. These exchange platforms are not yet regulated in many countries. This increases the risk of money laundering or terrorist financing. Cryptocurrency exchanges therefore, need to develop and implement mechanisms to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing in order to fully comply with relevant legislation maintain the safety of their operations and bolster a good reputation in the eyes of customers and supervising authorities.

Cryptoasset service providers in Turkey are subject to AML-CTF and KYC regulations as of May 1, 2021. There are serious judicial and administrative penalties for companies and their managers who do not comply with those regulations, both in Turkey and in other countries. Due to the high risk the use of cryptocurrencies poses in terms of money laundering or terrorist financing activities, cryptocurrency service providers are under strict supervision and surveillance of the supervisory authorities.

Our team comprising competent and sector-experienced professionals, provides top-notch consultancy services to ensure full compliance with regulations in Turkey and other countries. The main services we offer in this context are:

• Preparation of AML & KYC policy
• Evaluation and revision of current AML&KYC regulations in terms of compliance with the relevant legislation
• Review, revision and optimization of KYC implementations
• Advising on the selection of programs that will facilitate the KYC process
• Preparation of suspicious transaction evaluation and reporting policies and procedures
• Establishment of risk management policy and risk management system
• Establishing a risk scoring system for the detection of risky transactions
• Establishment of internal control policy and procedures
• Consulting on the establishment of the technological infrastructure required by AML & KYC practices/applications
• Consulting on internal audit activities regarding AML & KYC applications
• Staff training on AML & KYC legislation and practices