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A Manhattan federal judge on Friday delayed Halkbank's arraignment on charges that it helped Iran avoid more than $20 billion in U.S. economic sanctions, after the bank's King & Spalding attorneys said they needed until the end of March to obtain written permission to appear in the Southern District of New York.

The order, from U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman, followed a hearing earlier this week, in which King & Spalding partner Andrew Hruska said the Turkish state-owned bank was prepared to plead not guilty in the case, after it had refused for months to respond to the charges against it.

Berman, however, said Tuesday that, given the "history" of the case, he wanted a written assurance from the bank's leadership authorizing the attorneys to enter a general appearance on its behalf.

Hruska responded that he thought he needed no more than one week to obtain the document. A hearing was tentatively set for March 3.

But in a letter late Thursday, Hruska noted Turkish law requires approval of the board to issue written authorization, and said the matter would be addressed at a March 27 meeting "that will be held to specifically to discuss this issue."

"Given this process, we hope to have the letter by March 31, 2020," Hruska wrote. "We respectfully request that the control date status conference now set for March 3 be rescheduled for a date following March 31, 2020."

On Friday, Berman signed off on the request but scheduled the upcoming arraignment for March 31. Attorneys for the defense and prosecution were ordered to meet by March 5 to discuss the "appropriate arraignment allocution language."

Until Tuesday, the Turkish state-run bank had refused to formally acknowledge the criminal charges against it, while Hruska pursued the unusual strategy of petitioning for a special appearance, which would have allowed for a challenge to court's jurisdiction without requiring Halkbank to appear as a defendant.

Berman in December rejected King & Spalding's request for a special appearance as unprecedented for a criminal prosecution, in a decision that was upheld last week by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Prosecutors from the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office, meanwhile, had asked Berman to hold Halkbank in contempt for its failure to appear and pushed for millions of dollars in fines against the bank. It was expected that Halkbank's arraignment would resolve the government's contempt motion, which had been partially briefed before King & Spalding's appeal to the Second Circuit.

In requiring written authorization, Berman was careful to note that he did not mean for his directive to imply that he was being "critical and judgmental" of Halkbank's previous tactics, but, he said, the approach would be the "best way for all of us to proceed."

"I think it would behoove everybody," Berman said, "to have something from the bank that the bank has authorized King & Spalding to appear."

"I'd feel more comfortable if we had something like that," he said.

Prosecutors in the Southern District have alleged that Halkbank, which is majority-owned by the Turkish government, used a series of money service businesses and front companies in Iran, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates to transfer billions of dollars' worth of Iranian oil revenue in violation of prohibitions barring Iran from accessing the U.S. financial system.

High-ranking officials in Iran and Turkey allegedly participated in the scheme, and some officials took tens of millions of dollars in bribes to shield it from the scrutiny of U.S. regulators and banks, prosecutors said.

In total, nine defendants have been charged, including Reza Zarrab, the Turkish-Iranian gold dealer who pleaded guilty and later testified against Mehmet Hakan Atilla, a top Halkbank executive who was sentenced to 32 months in prison after a federal jury convicted him on five counts of conspiracy, money laundering and related counts.

Read More:

With King & Spalding Prepared to Enter Case, Halkbank Arraignment Nears as Judge Seeks Assurances

2nd Circuit Denies King & Spalding's Bid for Special Appearance in Halkbank Sanctions-Busting Case

Criminal Case Against Halkbank to Proceed as King & Spalding Asks Appeals Court to Allow Special Appearance, Berman Rules