On 29 June 2017, the US Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced a proposed rule that would designate China’s Bank of Dandong to be a foreign financial institution of primary money laundering concern under Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act. The measure responds to findings that the bank used the US financial system to facilitate millions of dollars of transactions for companies involved in North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

If implemented, the proposed rule will require US banks to block access to the US financial system by the Bank of Dandong directly and indirectly through other non-US banks. In conjunction with the measure, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) added two Chinese nationals and one Chinese shipping company to the OFAC List of Specially Designated Nationals (SDN List) which were found to have been involved in North Korea transactions.