On the 18th of September, District Judge Berman will hear the bank's Motion to Dismiss. he has previously denied its Motion to Stay and Motion for Recusal. I do not find any of his arguments compelling or persuasive.
His issues:
(1) The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FISA), which bars civil suits against a country applies to criminal actions. The cases cited, and common sense, indicate otherwise.
(2) There are no sufficient "commercial activities" of Halkbank to qualify for a FISA exception. Again, correspondent accounts, and $1bn of the twenty billion dollars moved by the bank for Iran
transited the United States.
(3) No Personal Jurisdiction for the corporation due to a lack of Minimum Contacts. The defendant provided misleading statements to US regulators. Also, Subject Matter Jurisdiction is sufficient.
(4) The application of Extraterritoriality is improper. The purpose of the scheme was to launder Iranian oil proceeds through US financial institutions.
(5) Bank Fraud is not properly alleged. All the appropriate allegations appear to have been made.
The Court obviously wants to move this case forward to trial, and the defense wants to delay it further.
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