By Bosphorus News Economy Desk
The United States sanctioned Türkiye-based Golden Global Yatırım Bankası and two subsidiaries on Friday, September 4, taking Washington's new Iran enforcement campaign from Turkish petrochemical importers into the financial sector.
The US Treasury alleges that Golden Global helped move Iranian oil revenues from China into Türkiye, where funds could be converted into cash and gold, and provided correspondent banking access linked to Iranian financial institutions and accounts associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF).
Golden Global rejected the allegations the same day. In a statement published on its website, the bank said the people and institutions named in the US action were not its customers and that it had conducted no direct or indirect business or transactions with them.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) added Golden Global Yatırım Bankası A.Ş., Golden Global Varlık Kiralama A.Ş. and Golden Global Portföy Yönetimi A.Ş. to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List under Executive Order 13902.
Treasury classified Golden Global as a financial institution and said it was designated for operating in Iran's financial sector and knowingly engaging in a significant transaction involving goods or services connected to that sector after January 10, 2020.
The two Istanbul-based subsidiaries were sanctioned because Treasury said they were owned or controlled by, or acted for or on behalf of, the bank.
The case goes beyond the petrochemical sanctions Washington imposed on four Istanbul companies less than two weeks earlier.
Treasury said Golden Global had been used to transfer Iranian oil revenues from China to Türkiye for what it calls Iran's "rahbar network." It also accused the bank of knowingly providing correspondent banking services that enabled transactions through accounts controlled by the IRGC-QF and its proxies.
The US allegations refer in particular to accounts associated with Turkish businessman Sıtkı Ayan and his companies. OFAC sanctioned Ayan's network in 2022 over what Washington said were hundreds of millions of dollars in transactions connected to IRGC-QF oil sales.
Golden Global said there was no banking transaction that could support the claim that it had facilitated Iranian oil dealings through China using cash and gold.
"The individuals and institutions named in the relevant OFAC decision and alleged to have used our bank as an intermediary are not customers of our bank," it said in its Turkish-language statement.
The bank added that it had carried out no direct or indirect business with those parties and would pursue domestic and international legal remedies against the designation. It also said it had the financial strength and willingness to meet its obligations to stakeholders.
Golden Global is an operating investment bank licensed by Türkiye's Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK). The regulator granted its operating permit in January 2020, and the bank says it began operations on June 1 that year.
Golden Global reported assets of about 25 billion Turkish lira and net profit of 1.06 billion lira for 2025. Its activities include corporate finance, foreign trade, treasury products and capital markets.
The OFAC designation blocks property and interests in property belonging to the sanctioned entities when they are in the United States or under the possession or control of US persons. Companies owned 50% or more by blocked persons are also covered.
Foreign financial institutions face a separate risk. Treasury warned that banks conducting or facilitating significant transactions on behalf of designated persons may themselves face secondary sanctions, including restrictions on correspondent or payable-through accounts in the United States.
OFAC issued a limited wind-down license alongside the action.
Iran General License CC authorizes transactions ordinarily necessary to wind down business involving Golden Global and the two subsidiaries until 12:01 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on September 19. Payments to blocked persons during that period must be placed in blocked, interest-bearing accounts in the United States.
The September 4 action follows Washington's August 24 sanctions on four Istanbul companies over Iranian-origin petrochemical purchases. US records attributed more than $35.4 million in Iranian petrochemical imports to those companies across the periods identified in that action.
Those sanctions formed part of Operation Economic Outcast, the Treasury campaign launched to cut Iran's remaining commercial and financial channels through third countries.
On August 24, Washington targeted Turkish companies buying Iranian petrochemicals. On September 4, it put a Türkiye-based investment bank and two financial subsidiaries on the SDN list.
No public response from Türkiye's banking regulator, Treasury and Finance Ministry or Foreign Ministry had appeared by publication time.
Sources: US Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control, Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency, Golden Global Yatırım Bankası, Public Disclosure Platform, Reuters, AP, Bosphorus News review and reporting.