US: New Sanctions Against North Korea Target China, Too

Jon Government

The US Department of the Treasury unveiled new sanctions June 29 targeting Chinese entities allegedly acting as fronts for North Korean interests, including the Dalian Global Unity Shipping Company and two Chinese nationals. Most notably, the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a proposal to bar US institutions from transacting with the Chinese-run Bank of Dandong, which it accuses of carrying out money laundering for the North Korean government. This would require a two-month comment period before going into effect.
In 2005, Washington similarly went after Macau-based Banco Delta Asia for money laundering on behalf of North Korea and froze $24 million in assets. The proposed US actions against Bank of Dandong (and those against Banco Delta Asia) fall under Section 311 of the US Patriot Act, which the Treasury used in June 2016 to name North Korea a “primary money-laundering concern.” Bank of Dandong itself has been in the US crosshairs since 2016, but along with Bank of China and China Merchants Bank, it claimed to have since halted remittances to North Korea.

This post was published at FinancialSense on 06/30/2017.