www.wsj.com - ISTANBUL—Amid tightening U.S. and European Union sanctions against Iran, almost all of Turkey's banks have stopped handling trade deals with the Islamic Republic, leaving one Turkish lender to rake in all that business: state-owned Halkbank.
Washington passed sanctions in January threatening to penalize financial institutions dealing with Iran's central bank, forcing Turkey's private lenders to halt transactions with Tehran for fear of being frozen out of international markets. U.S. Treasury officials visited Turkey several times last year to advise financial institutions that doing business with proscribed Iranian entities runs the risk of being frozen out of the U.S. financial system. (source)
Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204059804577227522616426372.html?mod=googlenews_wsj - Feb 17, 2012
