Turkey takes control of shareholder rights at Golden Global amid US sanctions

Turkey’s Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency, known as the BDDK, transferred shareholder rights covering 99.98% of Golden Global Yatirim Bankasi Anonim Sirketi to the state-run Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) on September 16. The move came less than two weeks after the US Treasury Department slapped sanctions on the Turkish investment bank, accusing it of helping Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) launder money and convert cash from Iranian oil revenues. It marks the first time the US has directly sanctioned a Turkish financial institution. What happened and why it matters The BDDK cited liquidity problems and Golden Global’s failure to meet its banking obligations as the formal justification for the intervention. Those sanctions arrived under Executive Order 13902, which targets institutions operating in Iran’s financial sector. The Treasury Department rolled them out as part of “Operation Economic Outcast,” a broader enforcement campaign launched on August 24 that aimed to dismantle financial networks supporting Iranian operations. Golden Global was established in 2019 and carries a capital base of roughly $34 million. The bank’s three main ...