HONG KONG — A U.S. Treasury official said Wednesday she has urged officials in Hong Kong and Beijing to step up measures to counter North Korean smuggling and financing, as part of Washington’s fine tuning of efforts to shut down Pyongyang’s nuclear program. Mandelker said she also repeatedly pressed officials in Beijing to expel sanctioned North Koreans in China who facilitate North Korean financial transactions. Two of eight other ships sanctioned by the U.N. last year also have links to Hong Kong shell companies. She said she discussed that issue with officials including those at Hong Kong’s Financial Services and Treasury Bureau. Recent scandals about offshare havens revealed Hong Kong to be a global centre for front companies.

Source: National Post January 24, 2018 09:05 UTC