North Korea starts moving funds from BDA accounts

Tokyo, April 19 (RIA Novosti) Holders of North Korean accounts at the Macao-based bank Banco Delta Asia (BDA) have started transferring their deposits, worth $25 billion, to other East Asian banks, the Japanese daily Yomiuri said Thursday.

Under an agreement reached at the six-nation talks on denuclearising North Korea in February, Pyongyang was to shut down and seal its nuclear reactor, produce a list of other nuclear facilities and swap access to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors for energy supplies and other assistance within 60 days, a deadline which expired Saturday.

However, North Korea had refused to honour its commitments until its accounts with BDA were unfrozen. Although information emerged last week that access to the accounts had been granted, Pyongyang said it would make sure before stopping the reactor.

'It will take over a month to complete the transfer of funds from all 52 [BDA] accounts,' the paper quoted a banking source as saying.

In September 2005, 52 North Korean accounts were frozen in BDA at Washington's request. In March 2007, the sanctions were lifted, but US financial institutions were banned from further deals with the Macao-based bank. The US has failed to provide any evidence of North Korean violations using the bank.

Under a February agreement between the six nations negotiating North Korea's nuclear program, the North was to seal its Yongbyon reactor Saturday but did not. South Korea and the US agreed to give the country a few more days, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said Tuesday.

Ernst & Young Global found no major violations in the operations of BDA, accused by Washington of assisting North Korea in money laundering and distributing counterfeit dollars.

South China Morning Post said Wednesday the auditor's report was filed in December 2005 at the request of the Macao administration in China, but local authorities refused to make it public. BDA is a Macao-based bank owned by the Delta Asia Financial Group.

Ernst & Young refuted allegations lodged by the US Treasury, and said in its report that the Hong Kong branch of one of the world's leading banks had checked all US dollars coming from North Korea. Previous reports said it was HSBC.

The report said BDA continued to accept cash from North Korea after financial authorities in Macao warned the bank that such operations were 'suspicious.'

BDA has filed a suit with an American court against the US Treasury's decision to put the bank on the blacklist from April 18 under the Patriot Act. BDA enclosed the Ernst & Young report into the case documents, saying the US decision was politically motivated and part of a dispute between the US and North Korea.

US satellite photos Tuesday revealed 'unusual activity' around the reactor. After seeing the shots, South Korea shared the US view that they could be an indication of North Korea's intention to shut down Yongbyon.

(c) Indo-Asian News Service

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