Both alerts include some helpful red flags which I encourage you to review and incorporate into your corporate due diligence and compliance procedures. private sector on Russian elites and high value assets. commercial real estate investments by sanctioned Russian elites, oligarchs, and their proxies. Just last week, my department released an alert to the U.S. The private sector plays a critical role in addressing these risks, including by conducting extra scrutiny into real estate transactions to help prevent domestic and foreign criminals from laundering funds through luxury real estate and other high-value assets. We’re committed to taking steps to enhance transparency, so that opaque real estate purchases are not a go-to method for money laundering. In the United States, we’re working hard to assess the illicit finance threats posed by the real estate sector. Real estate is one sector that remains vulnerable to exploitation by illicit actors both in Türkiye and the United States. Our work must begin with concerted efforts to close off the vulnerabilities in our countries’ anti-money laundering/countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regimes, so that illicit actors-including corrupt officials, terrorist financiers, and criminals-cannot move their money with impunity or anonymity. The responsibility, therefore, falls to all of us, from Washington to Istanbul, and financial centers globally, to address the weaknesses in our financial systems: to root out financial crime, shine light on the financial shadows that illicit actors exploit, and work toward a more equitable and inclusive global economy.ĪML/CFT Vulnerabilities Real Estate and Beneficial ownership We recognize that while these issues may originate outside of America’s borders, it is often vulnerabilities within the United States that illicit actors exploit to move, launder, or hide their dark money. Treasury Department, we approach these issues introspectively as well. We depend on your efforts and are grateful for the important work that you do each day.Īt the U.S. Our ability to manage these complex challenges depends in large part on the partnerships we forge and cultivate between governments and with the private sector. We find ourselves in a particularly difficult moment-nearly one year from the start of Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine reckoning with economic inequities facing mounting costs from global corruption, which corrodes societies and capitals around the world and grappling with evolving threats like those from rogue states and terrorist groups. Treasury Under Secretary, and I am thrilled to have this opportunity to discuss the profound illicit finance challenges we face today-and how we can work together to address them. This is my first visit to Türkiye in my role as the U.S.

Thank you for hosting me here today, and for the opportunity to discuss the profound illicit finance challenges that we all face. Treasury, including the Office of Foreign Assets Control, regularly engages with the private sector to help address questions and concerns about the implementation of U.S. Nelson met with the Banks Association of Turkey to discuss the implementation of international sanctions on Russia for its war against Ukraine. Department of the Treasury’s Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. ISTANBUL - While in Istanbul, Türkiye, the U.S.

Accelerates efforts root out extremism