Halk Bankası

The fifth penal chamber of Turkey's Supreme Court of Appeals ruled on March 23 for an arrest warrant for a public prosecutor who conducted the major Dec. 17, 2013, graft probe and was later dismissed from the profession.

The arrest of Reza Zarrab cannot be linked to the Turkish state's Halkbank, Trade Minister Bülent Tüfenkçi said on March 22, adding that U.S. investigators had not demanded any information or documents regarding the issue.

Shares in Turkey's Halkbank  fell 5 percent on March 22 following the arrest in the United States of a Turkish businessman on charges of conspiring to evade U.S. sanctions on Iran, traders said.

The Iranian-born businessman, Reza Zarrab, was charged in an indictment filed in a federal court in Manhattan, U.S. prosecutors said on March 21. 

Turkish lender Halkbank has aimed to become a commercial "bridge" between Turkey and Serbia since buying a stake in the lender in May 2015, the bank's general director for Serbia, Kenan Bozkurt, has told Anadolu Agency in an interview.    

The chief of Turkey?s state-run Halkbank has said the bank?s plans to establish an Islamic lender have been postponed ?for judicial reasons,? adding that the management is now working on another formula that does not require equity raising.  

Babek Zanjani, an Iranian businessman currently imprisoned in Iran on corruption charges and a figure connected to Turkey's massive graft case from 2013, has confessed to having 15 billion euros worth of assets abroad, the case's deputy prosecutor has said.

The deputy prosecutor added that Zanjani made banking and money transactions in Turkey, Iraq, Tajikistan and Malaysia. 

Halkbank Chairman Hasan Cebeci left his position last August upon a request from Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu amid claims of nepotism, according to a report by Turkish daily Posta.

Cebeci, who said at the time that he submitted his resignation due to health problems, was replaced by Recep Süleyman Özdil. 

Reza Zarrab?s road to export glory, recently recognized in a controversial award ceremony, was paved by a series of smart maneuvers designed to sidestep U.S.-led sanctions on Iran.  

Reza Zarrab?s road to export glory, recently recognized in a controversial award ceremony, was paved by a series of smart maneuvers designed to sidestep U.S.-led sanctions on Iran.  

Halkbank, one of Turkey's biggest banks and a state-run lender, on June 17 opened its 33rd branch in the Cair municipality of the Macedonian capital Skopje.