Turkey’s largest bank stops offering services to Venezuela’s Central Bank

Turkey’s largest bank by assets, Ziraat Bank, has stopped offering services to Venezuela’s Central Bank in wake of tougher U.S. sanctions that raise the stakes for companies that do business with the Caribbean nation, Bloomberg reported.

The Ankara-based state bank confirmed the closing of its account without providing further details. Venezuela’s Central Bank was relying on Ziraat to pay contractors, move money and import products in Turkish liras. A Venezuela Central Bank press official didn’t respond to requests for comment.

On August 5, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order blocking the assets of Venezuela’s government that fall within U.S. jurisdiction, including those belonging to the country’s central bank and the PDVSA oil company.