As the time granted for banks and other financial institutions -- including the Postal and Telecommunications General Directorate (PTT), intermediary institutions, insurance companies and notaries -- to complete the verification of their customers' addresses expires next Tuesday, MASAK has said in its statement to banks that banks should not put extra pressure on the customers to this end.
Following a law that came into effect on April 1, 2008, all banks and other financial institutions in Turkey will be required to confirm customers' addresses as part of an effort to combat money laundering. With an additional goal of cracking down on the financing of terrorism, the law requires banks to verify the identities and addresses of their customers. Identity checks are necessary for real and legal persons, associations, foundations, confederations, political parties and legal persons based in foreign countries. The law calls on banks to verify all documents and confirm the identity of the actual beneficiary of financial transactions.
The application period for the law was extended two times -- three months each -- to give financial institutions additional time to update their customer information. Officials from the Finance Ministry have stated that banks were granted permission to enter a central address data system and obtain the required information about their clients.
