Turkish lender Halkbank initially refused to help a prominent gold trader skirt U.S. sanctions against Iran, but with the help of a high-ranking minister and millions of dollars of bribes, the lender changed course, a New York federal jury heard in testimony Wednesday.
The U.S. Treasury Department Thursday accused the owners of a Georgian bank and more than a dozen others of secretly helping Iran and Syria skirt economic sanctions.
Western financial institutions won't radically amend their sanctions controls in response to an agreement to limit Iran's nuclear program in exchange for a relaxation of banking restrictions, say former officials.