Bank of China Closes Account of North Korea's Main Foreign Exchange Bank

Was targeted by U.S. sanctions

(Reuters)—Bank of China Ltd (3988.HK) (601988.SS) has shut the account of North Korea's main foreign exchange bank, which was hit with U.S. sanctions in March after Washington accused it of helping finance Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program.

The state-run Foreign Trade Bank had been told its transactions had been halted and its account closed, Bank of China, the country's biggest foreign exchange bank, said in a brief statement on Tuesday. It gave no reason for the closure and the bank declined to comment further.