​Three banks cited in Iran sanctions case

TURKEY - In Brief 28 Nov 2017 by Atilla Yesilada

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With jury selection completed, and Reza Zarrab officially out of the defendants list, the re-named “People of America vs. Hakan Atilla”, or the Iran sanctions trial will take start on Tuesday at 5:30 pm Turkish time, according to the Turkish press. Jurors have been briefed that three Turkish banks will be “discussed” in the case, for a lack of better legal expression on my side. In a related development, on Monday investors bet heavily that a potential compromise between U.S. and Turkey on Syria could mitigate potential fines to Turkish banks. I wholeheartedly agree with this line of thinking, but an agreement in Syria is not within reach. Pressures on the Turkish markets are very likely to continue. According to Turkish press (I didn't have time to verify the news flow through the international press), the trial will begin today and should last 3-4 weeks, which means uncertainty over potential fines and broader spill-overs to Turkish politics ought to be resolved by the New Year. This is the good news. The bad news is that court papers now cite state-owned lenders Halkbank and Ziraatbank, as well as small private commercial bank Aktifbank. As usual, I make no presentation that these banks are defendants or stand to be penalized as a result of the trial. Because of my relative ignorance of legal jingo, let’s call these banks “institutions of interest”. Additionally, it is now 95% certain that former defendant Mr. Reza Zarrab will offer testimony against AKP and Halkbank. Pro-AKP press expresses anxiety that prosecution might file additional charges against more members of the former AKP government. Some columnists confirm what I had already claimed: The prosecution wan...