FATF blacklist

Turkey's Ministry of Treasury and Finance said the grey listing of the country on Oct. 21 by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) was unfair.  

"Despite coordination studies, putting our country on the grey list has created a result that is unwarranted," the ministry said in a statement. 

Serbia is among several countries that have misused legislation passed to meet Financial Action Task Force, FATF, standards to combat money laundering and terrorism financing to investigate critical voices and NGOs, Reuters reported on Thursday.

The Turkish financial crimes unit slammed a global money laundering watchdog report against the country's money laundering efforts.

"Turkey's struggles weren't revealed in the report. [Turkey] was subjected to unfair assessment," Turkey's Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) officials told Anadolu Agency on Dec. 19 on a recent report by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

Turkish authorities must address shortcomings in tackling money laundering and terrorism financing or face being added to a "grey list" of countries with inadequate financial controls, according to a global money laundering watchdog.

The European Commission added Saudi Arabia, Panama, Nigeria and other jurisdictions to a blacklist of nations that pose a threat because of lax controls on terrorism financing and money laundering, the EU executive said on Feb. 13.

The European Union on Jan. 23 removed eight countries including Panama and South Korea from its new tax haven blacklist after they pledged to address their concerns, the bloc said.

European Union finance ministers adopted a blacklist of 17 jurisdictions deemed as tax havens on Dec. 5, in an unprecedented step to counter worldwide tax avoidance, although they did not agree on financial levies for the listed countries.

The United States and Turkey have agreed to conduct a joint effort to cut the funds financing the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), while G-20 member states have also committed to further cooperation against terror financing.