Turkish officials suggested a $100 million settlement to resolve a US criminal case against state-owned lender Halkbank during President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s visit to the White House last month, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The proposal, which included additional conditions, would have allowed Halkbank to avoid admitting guilt, a key demand for Ankara. It is not clear how US officials responded or whether discussions continued after the meeting between Erdoğan, President Donald Trump and senior aides at the White House on September 25.
Erdoğan has made his first visit to the White House since 2019 after being largely sidelined during the Joe Biden administration.
Halkbank faces fraud, money laundering and conspiracy charges in the United States, accused of helping Iran evade sanctions tied to its nuclear program. The bank has pleaded not guilty, arguing that it should be immune as a state-owned institution.
On Monday the US Supreme Court rejected Halkbank’s latest appeal, allowing the case to proceed. The ruling pushed the bank’s shares down 10 percent. Halkbank later said efforts to reach a “conciliation” with Washington were continuing.
Prosecutors in New York allege the bank used front companies in Turkey, Iran and the United Arab Emirates to secretly transfer $20 billion in restricted funds, convert oil revenue into gold and cash and falsify food shipments to disguise the transactions.
The legal dispute comes against a backdrop of shifting US-Turkey relations. Ties were severely strained after Ankara purchased Russian S-400 missile defense systems in 2019, prompting Washington to block Turkey from the F-35 fighter jet program and impose sanctions.
More recently, relations have shown signs of warming, driven partly by Erdoğan’s personal rapport with Trump. However, Turkey’s request for renewed access to the F-35s was not granted during the latest state visit.
Erdoğan has long criticized the US case against Halkbank, calling the charges “unlawful” and “ugly.”
A settlement is expected to exceed $100 million. In past cases European banks have paid far larger penalties for sanctions violations. France’s BNP Paribas, for instance, agreed in 2014 to pay nearly $9 billion to resolve similar allegations.
The controversy has already led to convictions. Mehmet Hakan Atilla, a former Halkbank executive, served about three years in a US prison on sanctions-related charges. Turkish-Iranian gold trader Reza Zarrab, accused of orchestrating the scheme, pleaded guilty and testified against Atilla.