US imposes sanctions on Turkish bank, prompting legal threat | Banks News
U.S. Sanctions Turkish Bank Over Alleged Links to Iran
The U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned a Turkish bank and its subsidiaries due to purported connections with Iran, as part of ongoing efforts to financially isolate Tehran.
On Friday, the Treasury accused Golden Global Yatirim Bankasi Anonim Sirketi (Golden Global Bank) of facilitating tens of millions of dollars in transactions for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force and providing banking services that allowed the Iranian government to move its funds internationally.
Washington claims that Golden Global Bank was specifically established to support Iran’s “rahbar network,” a shadow banking system designed to transfer oil revenues from China to Turkey using gold and cash.
In response, Golden Global Bank asserted that it adheres to all relevant local and international banking compliance regulations and intends to pursue legal action against the imposed sanctions. The bank stated in a news release that it has never conducted any transactions that would validate the U.S. allegations.
“We will exercise all our rights of objection and legal recourse in the most effective manner and will take the necessary actions at the earliest against these allegations and the decision,” the bank said.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent underscored the seriousness of the U.S. sanctions, stating, “Financial institutions continue to find out the hard way that we are serious about Operation Economic Outcast.” The sanctions have placed Golden Global Bank and its two subsidiaries on the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control’s Specially Designated Nationals list, thereby cutting off their access to the U.S. financial system.
Golden Global Bank also stated that the individuals and entities identified in the OFAC announcement are not and have never been its customers.
U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, Tom Barrack, commented on Saturday that Turkish officials should not interpret this targeted action as a judgment against Turkey as a whole. “The health of the Turkish financial system is not in question; the conduct of one institution was,” Barrack stated on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Last week, the U.S. also took steps to limit the financial operations of Egypt’s second-largest bank, Banque Misr, over its alleged processing of transactions for companies linked to Iran’s shadow banking system. Bessent indicated during a G20 summit that further bank sanctions could be announced in the coming weeks as part of the U.S. campaign against Tehran.
