Trump's FBI pick from law firm that 'helped Gülen-linked bank go international'

U.S. President Donald Trump's choice to lead the FBI is a white-collar defense lawyer with a strong law enforcement background. But in Turkey the nomination of Christopher Wray has raised eyebrows, with Turkish media reporting his previous involvement in helping Bank Asya, linked to the movement of U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, open its gates to international markets. 

King & Spalding, in which Wray had worked, had assisted Bank Asya in the issuance of $250 million resettable subordinated tier 2 certificates in a landmark Shari'ah-compliant capital markets transaction in April 2013, a report on the law firm's website confirms. 

The certificates, listed on the Irish Stock Exchange and due in 2023, were the first subordinated tier 2 Shariah-compliant certificates to be issued from Europe, Turkey and the Middle East, leading the way for the bank, once controlled by Gülen, to become an actor in international Islamic finance with the sukuk bond issuance. 

Gülen is the leading suspect in the cases into the failed July 15, 2016 coup attempt.  

The state-run Saving Deposits Insurance Fund (TMSF) seized Bank Asya on Dec. 24, 2014, before its license was totally annulled in July 2016. The bank is now on sale.  

Senate Republicans and some Democrats have praised the nomination of Wray. 

Trump's announcement on June 7 came a day ahead of the ousted FBI director's blockbuster congressional testimony about the investigation into the Trump campaign's possible connections with Russia.

Wray was a high-ranking official in George W. Bush's Justice Department and later represented New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in the Bridgegate scandal. Trump called him "an impeccably qualified individual."

...