In 2021, the FATF removed Turkey from the gray list, which it had taken on the grounds that it had fallen behind in the fight against money laundering and terrorism financing. Minister Şimşek shared the message ‘We did it’ with the Turkish flag emoji on his social media account, and this message was interpreted as ‘removed from the gray list’.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) decided to remove Turkey from the gray list at its general assembly meeting held today. The FATF had graylisted Turkey in 2021 on the grounds that it was lagging behind in the fight against money laundering and terrorism financing.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) research shows that being graylisted has led to a deterioration in relations with foreign banks and investors.
“We succeeded” message from Minister Şimşek
Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek was in Singapore to make a presentation at a meeting to discuss Turkey’s status on the FATF’s Gray List.
Şimşek shared a message on his social media account with the message ‘We did it’ and a Turkish flag emoji. This message was interpreted as ‘exited the gray list’.
What is FATF?
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an intergovernmental organization established in 1989 at a meeting of the G-7 countries (the United States, Japan, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy and Canada) in Paris to establish international standards for combating “laundering of assets derived from crime, financing terrorism and financing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction” and to promote the adoption of legal and institutional measures consistent with these standards and the effective operational implementation of these measures.
While the mandate of the FATF has been periodically extended since its establishment, it was made indefinite with the decision taken in April 2019.
The General Assembly, the decision-making body of the FATF, meets three times a year.
