US judge sets hearing in Halkbank case as prosecutors seek dismissal (updated)

Turkiye Halk Bankasi

12/06/2026 19:24

Adds hearing schedule, background

    NEW YORK, June 12 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge has scheduled a hearing for Wednesday in the U.S. criminal case against Halkbank HALK.IS, court records showed on Friday, after prosecutors said they were seeking to dismiss their indictment against the Turkish lender.
U.S. District Judge Richard Berman scheduled the hearing for 9 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT) in Manhattan federal court. 
Halkbank was charged in 2019 with helping Iran evade U.S. sanctions. It pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors in March said they had reached an agreement with Halkbank to drop the charges in exchange for the bank barring transactions that benefit Iran and hiring a monitor to review its sanctions and anti-money-laundering compliance. 
The settlement sent Halkbank's shares soaring on the Istanbul stock exchange. 
Berman paused the case for 90 days to give Halkbank the chance to demonstrate compliance.
On Wednesday, prosecutors asked Berman to dismiss the charges because a review of Halkbank's practices by Ernst & Young did not find instances of noncompliance. 
     

 (Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Mark Porter and Chizu Nomiyama)
 ((luc.cohen@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 540 2347))