Senate Committee approves banking restrictions against North Korea
The Otto Warmbier Banking Restrictions Involving North Korea Act has been unanimously approved by a US Senate committee. The Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs voted for the Bill, which designates foreign financial institutions in China and elsewhere which help North Korea (‘DPRK’) to evade US and UN sanctions.
Existing US sanctions on DPRK are stepped up by allowing the Secretary of the Treasury, currently Steven Mnuchin, leeway to impose sanctions on foreign organisations that facilitate and support the North Korean regime, including those that ‘knowingly’ import coal, iron, lead, textiles or seafood products from DPRK; facilitate a significant transfer of funds or property from DPRK; and those involved in the transfer of workers from DPRK to other countries to generate funds for Pyongyang.
The Bill also strengthens Congressional oversight by requiring the President to notify Congress before suspending or terminating the sanctions. This is similar to the Russia Sanctions Bill, signed into law in August, along with sanctions measures against DPRK and Iran, in the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (‘CAATSA’).
The Senate Committee’s approval came ahead of President Trump’s visit to Beijing, where he urged the Chinese president Xi Jinping to ‘act faster and more effectively’ to extinguish North Korea’s nuclear ‘menace’.
A companion Bill has been introduced into the House of Representatives. The Bill now moves to the US Senate.
The text of the Bill can be found here:
