U.S. Treasury Department Takes Steps Aimed at Isolating North Korean Financial Institutions from the Rest of the World
On June 1, 2016, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that it had designated the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea as a jurisdiction of “primary money laundering concern” under Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act. Treasury further issued a notice of proposed rulemaking setting forth certain special measures to further sever banking relationships with North Korea pursuant to rules administered and enforced by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. The proposed rule, when finalized, would aim to isolate North Korea’s financial institutions from the global financial community by forcing non-U.S. financial institutions to choose between doing business with North Korea or the United States.