U.S. Official: Macau bank probe ongoing

Written on June 6, 2006 by a2zMacau

Efforts to clean up a Macau-based bank accused by the U.S. of laundering money for North Korea have made good progress, but investigations into the bank are still ongoing, a U.S. Treasury official said Monday.

Daniel Glaser, the U.S. Treasury deputy assistant secretary for terrorist financing and financial crimes, said authorities in Macau have taken steps to clean up Banco Delta Asia since the U.S. banned transactions between the bank and American financial institutions in September.

The Treasury called the bank a “willing pawn for the North Korean government” and charged that its clients were involved in smuggling and counterfeiting.

“Our designation of BDA has produced encouraging results,” Glaser told a financial crime forum in Hong Kong Monday.

Steps have been taken to expedite anti-money laundering laws and identify illicit North Korean business in Macau, and a new management for the bank is in place, Glaser said.

“These are welcome steps — but our continued and constant vigilance will be needed to ensure these results do not wane, and North Korean entities engaged in illicit activities are denied financial services worldwide,” he said.

“Investigations are still ongoing,” he said when asked whether the U.S. will revoke designation of the bank as a “primary money laundering concern.”

The U.S. sanctions on Banco Delta Asia and several North Korean companies it said were involved in counterfeiting, money laundering and funding weapons proliferation are a key sticking point in resuming international talks aimed at curbing Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program.

North Korea has denied the allegations and since November has vowed not to return to the six-nation nuclear talks until Washington lifts a freeze on disputed North Korean assets in Banco Delta Asia.