## Facts

- A federal grand jury in the Southern District of New York indicted Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S. (Halkbank), a Turkey majority-owned commercial bank, for crimes tied to evading U.S. sanctions on Iran.
- The indictment alleged Halkbank helped move Iranian oil and gas proceeds through the U.S. financial system using transactions designed to conceal the funds’ Iranian origin, and made false statements to the U.S. Treasury Department.
- Halkbank moved to dismiss, asserting it was an “instrumentality of a foreign state” and therefore immune from U.S. criminal prosecution under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA), and that the district court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction.
- The district court denied dismissal, relying on 18 U.S.C. § 3231 for criminal subject-matter jurisdiction and concluding FSIA did not provide criminal immunity (and alternatively that the alleged conduct fit the FSIA commercial-activity exception).
- The Second Circuit affirmed denial of dismissal, concluding § 3231 supplied jurisdiction and reasoning that, even if FSIA applied, the charged conduct fell within the commercial-activity exception.

## Issues

1. Whether 18 U.S.C. § 3231 grants federal district courts subject-matter jurisdiction over criminal prosecutions of foreign states and their instrumentalities.
2. Whether the FSIA applies to criminal prosecutions and provides immunity to a foreign state instrumentality charged with federal crimes.
3. If the FSIA does not apply, whether and to what extent a foreign state instrumentality may claim common-law foreign sovereign immunity in a federal criminal case.

## Decision

- The Court held that § 3231 grants the district court subject-matter jurisdiction over the criminal prosecution because it covers “all offenses against the laws of the United States,” without an implied carveout for foreign sovereign instrumentalities.
- The Court held that the FSIA’s immunity scheme applies to civil actions, not criminal prosecutions, and therefore does not provide Halkbank immunity in this case.
- The Court affirmed the judgment to the extent it recognized § 3231 jurisdiction and rejected FSIA immunity, vacated the remainder, and remanded for the court of appeals to address Halkbank’s common-law immunity arguments.

## Legal Principles

- 18 U.S.C. § 3231’s broad grant of jurisdiction over federal criminal offenses encompasses prosecutions against foreign sovereign instrumentalities absent an express statutory limitation.
- The FSIA establishes a comprehensive framework for sovereign immunity in civil actions and does not govern criminal prosecutions.
- Where FSIA is inapplicable, any claim of foreign sovereign immunity in a criminal case must be evaluated under non-FSIA sources, including common-law doctrines, as applicable.

## Conclusion

The Court permitted the federal criminal case to proceed by confirming § 3231 jurisdiction and rejecting FSIA-based immunity, but left unresolved whether Halkbank is entitled to immunity under common-law foreign sovereign immunity, directing further consideration on remand.


Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S. v. United States, 598 U.S. 264 (2023)