Halkbank shares jump 8% after news report on settlement proposal in US (updated)

Turkiye Halk Bankasi

08/10/2025 11:38

Adds Erdogan's comments in paragraphs 6-7, details on the proposal in 2-3; updates share moves

Oct 8 (Reuters) - Shares in Turkey's Halkbank HALKB.IS jumped as much as 8% on Wednesday after Reuters reported that Ankara had floated a $100 million settlement in the bank's U.S. legal case during talks at the White House last month.

It was unclear how the U.S. side reacted to the proposal by Turkish officials at the meeting between President Donald Trump and President Tayyip Erdogan, Reuters reported, citing two sources familiar with the talks.

The proposal included conditions for the bank and the suggestion that it would not admit guilt in the case, Reuters reported.

Halkbank was the best performer on Istanbul's otherwise flat BIST 100 share index .XU100 at 0957 GMT, and it helped lift the financial index .XBANK, which rose 0.79%.

Turkey's fourth-largest bank is facing fraud, money laundering and conspiracy charges in the United States for allegedly helping Iran evade U.S. economic sanctions related to its nuclear programme. It has pleaded not guilty.

Separately, Erdogan said he was hopeful the Halkbank case would be resolved "as soon as possible" after some processes are completed, according to an official readout on Wednesday of his comments on a flight back from Azerbaijan.

Erdogan said that Trump told him both at the White House and in a subsequent phone call that "the Halkbank problem is finished for us," according to the readout.

 (Reporting by Canan Sevgili and Tuvan Gumrukcu; Writing by Jonathan Spicer; Editing by Daren Butler and Louise Heavens)

 ((canan.sevgili@thomsonreuters.com;))