US Supreme Court sends Halkbank case back to lower court for reconsideration

The US Supreme Court handed Turkish state lender Halkbank another chance to make its case in a lower court on Wednesday, ordering the Second District Court of Appeals to reconsider the case.

A majority opinion from the top US court threw out the lower court's opinion allowing the prosecution to proceed, saying that it disagrees with Halkbank's contention that a 1976 law shields it from criminal prosecution. But it ordered the appellate court to reconsider whether the bank has immunity under "common-law" principles.

"The Second Circuit did not fully consider various common-law immunity arguments that the parties raise in this Court," Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote for the court majority. "The Court vacates the judgment and remands for the Second Circuit to consider those arguments."