FATF officials said if the recommendation came into force, it could cause long delays for delivery of Turkish exports and imports while the origins of the funds were checked. Last year the group introduced a 40-point battle plan, including the extension of money laundering crimes beyond drug trafficking and requiring mandatory reporting of suspicious transactions by financial institutions. He said if the necessary laws were not introduced by September, FATF would send a task force to Ankara to discuss the situation, after which regulatory action would be taken. Turkey has already drawn up legislation to outlaw formally the laundering of illegally earned money, but Carpentieri said it had not been enacted because of recent political turmoil. Turkish officials at the meeting were not available for comment.
Italian police believe a growing amount of hard drugs are being smuggled into Europe via Turkey.
The only other time the FATF has ordered bank controls on a country was against non-member Seychelles in 1995 when it presented legislation granting asset protection and legal immunity to individuals who invested there. When the FATF was set up, only Britain and the United States had anti-money laundering statutes. Now 25 countries do and some 60 other countries have made commitments to follow suit. But officials said simply having legislation did not mean an end to money laundering operations and FATF is believed to be unhappy about prevention measures in a number of member countries, including the United States and Austria. He said there was particular concern about the increasing use of bureaux de change and non-bank financial institutions to hide money laundering activities.