The US Treasury just put a Turkish bank on its blacklist for allegedly serving as a financial pipeline for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. Golden Global Yatirim Bankasi Anonim Sirketi, an Istanbul-based investment bank established in October 2019, was designated on September 4 alongside two of its subsidiaries under Executive Order 13902, which targets entities operating in Iran’s financial sector.
The move is part of a broader campaign the Treasury has dubbed Operation Economic Outcast, launched in late August 2026 to dismantle what US officials describe as Iran’s shadow banking infrastructure.
What Golden Global allegedly did
According to the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Golden Global Bank facilitated the transfer of Iranian oil revenues from China to Türkiye. The funds were then purportedly converted into cash and gold, a classic sanctions-evasion playbook that creates layers of separation between the original revenue source and the end recipient.
The two designated subsidiaries are Golden Global Varlik Kiralama Anonim Sirketi, an asset leasing company established in August 2022, and Golden Global Portfoy Yonetimi Anonim Sirketi, a portfolio management firm set up in January 2025. Together, the three entities allegedly formed a banking structure that gave the IRGC-QF access to international financial markets it was otherwise locked out of.
