UANI

"Turkish lender Halkbank , little known outside Turkey, has gained a reputation in the oil market over the past 18 months for handling transactions that other banks fear to touch - trade deals with Iran... Halkbank's stance toward Iran largely has reflected the attitude of the Turkish government, which owns 75 percent of the bank, towards international sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear programme... Halkbank handles payments to Iran by Tupras, which is owned by the Turkey's largest conglomerate Koc Holding, according to industry sources with knowledge of the transactions. Indian refiners, unable to pay Iran for imported oil through their own banking system for fear of U.S. retribution, turned to Halkbank in mid-2011 to make payments. In December, Halkbank refused to open an account for an additional Indian refiner, BPCL, for that purpose. No reason was given, though there was speculation that Turkey wanted to avoid further antagonising Washington. Halkbank was contacted over the status of the bank's dealings with Iran, but senior officials were unavailable for immediate comment." (Reuters, "Iran dealings put Turkey's Halkbank in spotlight," 1/4/2012)

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"Halkbank, as the bank is popularly called, was revealed to have facilitated payments of $100 million between Indian oil refiners and the National Iranian Oil Company. This fund transfer was a multi-step process coordinated with Union Bank of India, and designed specifically to evade international sanctions." (Bloomberg, "Iran Receives $100 Million in Oil Payments From India, PTI Says," 8/2/2011)

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Conducts business with U.S. banks and Iranian banks. ("Iran's Dirty Banking", Avi Jorisch)