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Burden of North Korea Sanctions to Fall Heavily on Asia, Less So on Europe
By Brian Monroe
printBanks in China, Southeast Asia and Europe will soon see their compliance duties get tougher under new U.N. sanctions measures aimed at stifling North Korea's nuclear arms program, say analysts. On Thursday, the U.N. Security Council approved a resolution calling on member states to prohibit correspondent accounts, freeze transactions and abstain from joint ventures tied to North Korea's weapons proliferation efforts. The measure, which also calls for greater scrutiny of bulk cash shipments, is intended as a reprisal for the country's Feb. 12 nuclear weapons test. On Monday, the U.S. Treasury Department bolstered that effort, blacklisting Pyongyang-based Foreign Trade Bank...
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U.S. President Barack Obama signed an executive order on Tuesday clearing the way for sanctions against a broad array of foreign businesses operating on behalf of or within North Korea.
The Obama administration is working to cut off North Korea's remaining access points to the global financial system, including through China, a U.S. Treasury Department official told lawmakers Tuesday.
The U.S. Treasury Department blacklisted a North Korean bank and a related firm Thursday for their alleged role in facilitating the country's weapons programs.
The growing use of China's currency to conduct international trade payments could weaken the potency of U.S. efforts to promote anti-money laundering practices and impose financial sanctions, say analysts.
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U.S. lawmakers will introduce sanctions legislation targeting North Korea's use of criminal proceeds and third-country banks that finance its nuclear program, members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee said Tuesday.
Although American financial institutions and the North Korean government rarely cross paths, U.S. officials have numerous avenues to sanction the Asian country for its latest nuclear weapons test, say attorneys.
The U.S. Treasury Department's sanctions arm blacklisted Korea Daesong Bank Thursday for its alleged ties to a branch of the North Korean communist government.
The United States expanded economic sanctions measures against North Korea Monday, blacklisting 12 entities and individuals and issuing an executive order under which new prohibitions can be enacted.
New U.S. sanctions targeting North Korea, including a likely block on assets tied to the nation's top officials, will require the cooperation from Chinese monetary authorities to be effective, say analysts.
Bank of America has cut its ties to North Korea after the nation topped an intergovernmental blacklist of countries with poor anti-money laundering regimes, according to a bank compliance official.
An influential financial crime watchdog group released Thursday a much-anticipated list of nearly 30 countries with anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing deficiencies.
The U.S. Treasury Department blacklisted a North Korean bank and the president of another financial institution Friday for allegedly helping the country's communist government develop its weapons programs.
The United Nations Security Council Friday unanimously approved strengthening trade and economic sanctions against North Korea, including the reinstitution of financial freezes passed but not acted on in 2006.
Economic sanctions expected against North Korea over its test of a nuclear bomb will likely include companies in China, South Korea, Thailand and Russia linked to trade with the communist nation, say consultants.
A recent United Nations resolution against North Korea will bolster sanctions against the country but may fall short of results achieved by a 2006 asset freeze, say observers.
The Bush Administration removed North Korea from its state sponsors of terrorism list Saturday, a decision likely to have little impact on economic sanctions against the country.
Ron King, vice president and chief anti-money laundering officer for Toronto-based Scotiabank, talks with reporter Larissa Bernardes about how banks can detect the financial transactions of weapons facilitators, the subject of an upcoming FATF report.
The money was transferred Thursday through the New York branch of the Federal Reserve to a small, private Russian bank, Far East Commercial Bank, according to reports.