Paragraphs 5 and 6 of Article 19 and Article 22 of Capital Movements Circular (“Circular”) were amended in accordance with the letter of Ministry of Treasury and Finance of Republic of Turkey dated March 16, 2021 numbered 180199. 

Precautions to be Taken by the Banks in relation to the Amounts Deposited to the Bank Accounts from Abroad

Paragraph 5 of Article 19 of the Circular which stipulates the general principles for procurement of loans from abroad, obliges the banks to check the SWIFT messages in relation to the amounts transferred to the foreign currency accounts of Turkish residents from abroad on whether the transferred amount is stated as a loan or not in Turkish or another language. With the amendment made in the Circular, the banks also became obliged to check the SWIFT messages in relation to the amounts transferred to TRY deposit accounts of Turkish residents from abroad.

In addition, paragraph 6 of Article 19 of the Circular obliges banks to obtain a written statement from the relevant company in order to determine whether the foreign currency amounts equal to or exceeding USD 50,000 transferred from abroad without any indication, for which the transfer reason cannot be determined, is a loan. With the amendment made in the Circular, transferred amounts of TRY 250,000 or more for which the reason for the transfer cannot be determined have also been added to the scope of this obligation of banks.

Additional Exemptions for Loans that can be utilized without Bringing to Turkey

With the amendment made in Article 22 of the Circular which regulates loans that can be utilized without bringing to Turkey, Turkish residents can now utilize loans from abroad without bringing the proceeds thereof to Turkey to the extent that the loan refinances an existing loan utilized from abroad by the same borrower. However, the amount of the loan that is not used to refinance the loans obtained from abroad is required to be utilized by transferring it into a Turkish bank account.