Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act

Previewing TikTok Case Oral Arguments Before the Supreme Court

U.S. Court Denies Sovereign Immunity for Halkbank

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled on Tuesday that the federal government could proceed with the prosecution of Turkish public lender Halkbank on charges that it helped to evade U.S....

Lawmakers Urge Blinken to Hold Turkey to Account for Assault on U.S. Citizens

More than 70 U.S. lawmakers signed a bipartisan letter on May 15 urging Secretary of State Antony Blinken to hold Ankara to account for the 2017 assault on American citizens by Turkish security officials....

Civil Case Against Halkbank Dismissed by Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court on January 8 denied a civil petition brought against Halkbank, a Turkish state-owned public lender accused of facilitating Iranian sanctions busting. Despite the petition’s dismissal,...

Supreme Court Allows Iran Sanctions-Evasion Case Against Turkish Bank to Proceed

The Supreme Court ruled on April 19 that the Turkish state-owned Halkbank remains subject to criminal prosecution in U.S. courts for conspiring to evade U.S. sanctions against Iran....

Turkey Seeks Sovereign Immunity in Two Cases Before the Supreme Court

Two recent Supreme Court rulings in the United States may shed light on whether entities owned by foreign governments can claim immunity under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA)...

Halkbank’s Supreme Court Appeal Will Delay Iran Sanctions-Evasion Case

A U.S. appeals court ruled on Friday that Halkbank, a public lender majority-owned by Turkey’s sovereign wealth fund, can appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court without having to defend itself in a Manhattan...

Landmark Iran Sanctions Ruling Against Turkish Public Lender Builds U.S. Deterrence

A U.S. appeals court ruled on October 22 that Halkbank, a public lender majority-owned by Turkey’s sovereign wealth fund, cannot claim sovereign immunity under U.S. law to scuttle a federal criminal case...

Rescinding the IRGC’s Terror Designation Would Harm American Victims of Terrorism

As part of negotiations in Vienna, Iran’s clerical regime has reportedly requested that the Biden administration rescind the U.S. government’s formal designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps...

Commerce Department Targets Former Turkish Banker for Evading Iran Sanctions

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security on May 5 announced it would deny export privileges to Mehmet Hakan Atilla, the former deputy general manager of Halkbank, Turkey’s second-largest...

Halkbank’s Last-Minute Effort to Scuttle Iran Sanctions-Evasion Case

Halkbank, a public lender majority-owned by Turkey’s sovereign wealth fund, claimed on April 12 before a U.S. court that the bank is immune from charges U.S. prosecutors brought in October 2019, which...

Turkish bank rulings should be a wakeup call for global financial institutions

Turkish banks are taking a beating in American courts. First, a federal judge in the Southern District of New York (SDNY) refused to dismiss an indictment accusing Halkbank, majority-owned by the Turkish...

Turkish Public Lender Fails Again to Scuttle Iran Sanctions Evasion Case

A Manhattan federal judge on October 1 refused to dismiss an indictment accusing Halkbank, a public lender majority-owned by the Turkish government, of helping Iran evade U.S. sanctions. In the event of...

Federal lawsuits target both Iran and private firms for allegedly financing Taliban and Al-Qaeda operations that killed U.S. troops

On December 27, 2019, more than 500 members of American military families, including over 100 Gold Star families, filed two lawsuits: one against the Islamic Republic of Iran, and another against eight multinational...