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Türkiye’s state-run lender Halkbank filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, challenging a lower court decision that ruled the bank could be prosecuted in the United States.
The ongoing case accuses Halkbank of helping Iran evade U.S. sanctions. The case was originally filed in 2019, and the bank has consistently denied the allegations, maintaining that it cannot be tried in U.S. courts.
Robert Cary, a U.S.-based attorney representing Halkbank, stated that a petition was submitted to the Supreme Court requesting a review of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals' October 22, 2024, ruling that allowed the prosecution to proceed.
The Supreme Court had previously given Halkbank until Monday to file an appeal. Cary confirmed that the necessary documents were submitted within the deadline.
In 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court gave Halkbank another chance to contest the sanctions-related charges by sending the case back to a lower court, which issued a new ruling last October. However, the court rejected Halkbank’s claim that it could not be prosecuted because of its ties to the Turkish government.
As developments in the case continue to draw attention from international observers and financial circles, it remains to be seen whether the Supreme Court will agree to review the petition.
Halkbank aims to have its previously dismissed arguments on sovereign immunity reconsidered, specifically its claim that, as a state-owned entity of the Republic of Türkiye, it is shielded from prosecution under the U.S. Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA), a federal statute that generally protects foreign governments and their instrumentalities from being sued in U.S. courts.
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