A Manhattan federal judge on Thursday set a March 2021 trial date in the criminal case accusing Halkbank of helping Iran evade billions of dollars in U.S. economic sanctions, rejecting a bid by the Turkish state-run bank to delay the proceedings until 2022.

The order, from U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman of the Southern District of New York, was in line with a request by federal prosecutors to try the closely watched case early next year, following months of legal wrangling with the bank’s defense attorneys.