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U.N. Expands Sanctions Against North Korea, Reinstitutes Asset Freezes
By Brian Monroe
printThe 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. The 15-member council voted on the measure, which bans arms exports and bars deals with North Korea's military, after the reclusive communist country's May 25 test of a nuclear bomb, the second such test in three years. The resolution also calls for peaceable inspections of cargo thought to be tied to North Korea's nuclear weapons program. The resolution is "tougher than any that has gone before it," said a U.N. official...
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U.S. lawmakers are considering drafting new legislation that would mandate a ban on Chinese financial institutions with ties to blacklisted entities in North Korea ahead of the country's expected test of an intercontinental ballistic missile.
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 U.S. House of Representatives passed a measure in a voice vote that would require American officials to determine whether to punish foreign banks that maintain ties with North Korea.
Banks 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.
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.
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.
Compliance officers at some of the world's largest financial institutions are concluding they need to create sanctions-specific programs to avoid regulatory penalties and tarnished reputations, according to a Deloitte survey released Monday.
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.
A decision by the Bush administration to remove North Korea from its state sponsors of terror list will have little impact on how financial institutions and other companies deal with the Asian country.
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.
The U.S. Treasury Department has labeled Banco Delta Asia in Macau as a primary money laundering concern. For 20 years the bank has been providing financial services to North Korean government agencies and front companies linked to crimes.