Turkiye Halk Bankasi shares rose modestly on the session, gaining 0.3% to trade at 48.3 TRY after U.S. District Judge Richard Berman granted a joint request to dismiss a criminal indictment that had shadowed the lender for roughly nine years.
The indictment, brought in 2019, accused the bank of facilitating the circumvention of U.S. economic sanctions by covertly transmitting about $20 billion in restricted funds. That allegation had been a focal point of investor concern and had complicated the bank's interactions with international counterparties and institutional investors.
The court action concluded a structured resolution process. In March 2026, the bank entered into a Deferred Prosecution Agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice's Southern District of New York. On June 10, 2026, the bank and the Justice Department jointly filed a petition asking the court to drop the charges after the bank delivered its mandatory compliance report to both the DOJ and the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) within the agreed timeframe.
Judge Berman's ruling formally approved that joint petition, removing what had been one of the most significant legal and reputational risks facing the bank. The dismissal clears the specific indictment at issue in the case and reflects the completion of the settlement steps spelled out in the March agreement.
From a market-structure standpoint, Halkbank's positive price movement stood apart from the broader index. The BIST 100 traded slightly lower on the day, meaning Halkbank's uptick was driven by this company-specific development rather than a supportive macro market trend.
Investors have already pushed the stock sharply higher over the past year as the resolution unfolded. The share price climbed from a 52-week low of 19.87 TRY to a 52-week high of 52.5 TRY, a recovery that reflected growing investor confidence as the bank met settlement requirements and the legal process moved toward closure.
With the indictment formally dismissed, Halkbank sheds a long-standing liability that had complicated its standing with foreign counterparties and institutional investors. The combination of court approval, compliance with settlement obligations and an improved Turkey-U.S. diplomatic backdrop were cited as underpinning factors for the day's positive price action, even as the scale of the move remained measured given that much of the outcome had been anticipated since the March settlement.
Contextual note - The dismissal followed a sequence of compliance steps under the Deferred Prosecution Agreement and the timely submission of required reports to the DOJ and OFAC. The court's approval represents the formal close of this particular legal chapter for the bank.