Three blacklisted North Korean banks have been barred from the global messaging network that connects the world’s financial institutions.
Their suspension highlights the continued efforts by the U. S. and its allies to cut North Korea off from the international financial system as Kim Jong Un’s regime pursues its nuclear weapons program .
SWIFT, the global banking communications service, said Wednesday that it recently suspended the North Korean banks’ access to its vast network, which connects more than 11,000 entities around the world.
Financial firms use SWIFT for millions of transactions each day, such as transferring money and settling trades.
What is not clear is why the North Korean banks were still able to operate in a mainstream part of the global financial system even though they had been blacklisted under U. N. sanctions — in one case since January 2013.
The U. S. Treasury Department last year accused North Korea of being a hub for money laundering and prohibited American banks from dealing with front companies that do business on behalf of North Korean financial institutions.
Related: U. S. cracks down on North Korea’s money laundering
The Treasury Department said that North Korea’s financial institutions operate with little or no international supervision — making it easier for them to shift money for illicit purposes.
