ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek will deliver a speech at a Financial Action Task Force meeting in Singapore, Turkish state media said on Thursday, ahead of a decision by the international crime watchdog to remove Turkey from the “grey list.”
The decision to remove Turkey from this “grey list” of countries and territories requiring greater scrutiny will be a boost to the economic transformation plan, after the FATF taskforce downgraded the country’s status in 2021 over concerns about money laundering and terrorist financing.
Turkish officials said they expected Turkey to be removed from the gray list, noting that any other decision would be politically motivated.
Turkey’s state-owned Anadolu news agency on Thursday cited Treasury sources as saying that Simsek plans to attend the FATF meeting and deliver a speech as well as hold talks with investors and Singapore’s prime minister and president during the two-day visit.
A source in the Turkish Treasury Ministry told Reuters earlier that Simsek will attend the FATF meeting.
In a statement in February, the FATF said Turkey had “substantially completed its action plan” and needed an on-site assessment.
A FATF delegation visited Turkey last month to evaluate Türkiye’s measures to prevent money laundering and illegal financing.
