Obligations of Law No. 5549 (bank, payment institution, insurance, crypto exchange, real estate intermediary, etc.) are obliged to submit the STR (Suspicious Transaction Report) notification to the MASAK Presidency within 10 business days. Lack of notification creates personal criminal liability for the manager and the compliance officer.
Who is liable?
5549 SK article 2 obligors:
- Banks, payment/electronic money institutions, insurance companies.
- Cryptoasset service providers (KVHS).
- Capital market intermediary institutions, portfolio management companies.
- Real estate consultancy companies (transactions above the limit).
- Customs consultants, notary, lawyer (in limited scope), independent auditor.
- Postal and express shipping companies.
KYC, monitoring and training chain
STR is not a standalone form; in front of:
In case of deficiency, the obligor + manager will be held personally responsible under MASAK audit.
Does the compliance officer bind the manager?
No; The compliance officer is obliged to submit the report to the manager; However, if the manager blocks the report, personal liability arises. In court, the administrator may be accused of the email chain showing that he blocked STR despite warnings from the compliance officer.
Administrative fine amount?
5549 SK article 13: It changes from 30 thousand TL to 4 million TL for the obliged legal entity, and from 5 thousand TL to 50 thousand TL for the manager/employee (annual update). The penalty is graded according to the type of violation and risk.
Turkish Penal Code Article 282 connection with the money laundering case?
Failure to provide STR may be considered as evidence of participation in the crime of money laundering. The manager must submit internal process documents (training record, annual audit report, KKB outputs) to prove the "I did not know" defense.
Defense set that protects the manager
- Annual MASAK training records (participant list, exam score).
- Compliance officer appointment letter + commitment to independence.
- Annual internal audit report (Big4 / TÜRMOB member auditor).
- STR flow: Trigger → compliance review → admin notification → notification email.
- Suspicious pattern threshold table (annual update).
Relevant legislation
- Law No. 5549 on the Prevention of Laundering Proceeds of Crime Article 19 — 7-day temporary measure in suspicious transactions.
- 5549 SK article 13 — Administrative fines (obliged person, manager, employee).
- Turkish Penal Code art.282 — Laundering of proceeds of crime (3-7 years + judicial money).
- CMK article 128 — Confiscation of goods and rights; peace penalty approval.
- 5549 SK Implementation Regulation — Suspicious transaction reporting (STR), regular activity reporting.