U.S. Treasury Finalizes Rule Cutting Off Banco Delta Asia from U.S. Financial System, Returns Frozen Funds to North Korea

On March 14, 2007, the U.S. Department of the Treasury issued a final rule against Banco Delta Asia SARL (BDA) under Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act. When the final rule takes effect in 30 days, U.S. financial institutions will be prohibited from opening or maintaining correspondent accounts for or on behalf of BDA, effectively blocking access to the U.S. financial system on a direct and indirect basis. In related news, on March 19, 2007, the U.S. government decided to release $25 million of funds that have been frozen at BDA and return it to North Korea even though the U.S. has said the funds were proceeds of crime … [more]