Posted on 09/17/2005 3:13:32 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 17 September 2005 1716 hrs
Macau urges caution as US allegations spark run on North Korea-linked bank
HONG KONG : Macau's political chief has moved to staunch a run on a bank accused by the United States of aiding illicit North Korean financial activity, fearing the scandal could wreck the city's banking sector.
Chief Executive Edmund Ho urged caution amid a flurry of large withdrawals from Banco Delta Asia following allegations the lender had laundered money and helped North Korean customers distribute counterfeit US currency.
"There is nothing to substantiate the rumours," Ho was quoted as telling reporters by local RTHK radio.
He urged customers to have confidence in Banco Delta Asia and stressed there was no suggestion it had cash flow problems.
The damning report from the US Treasury Department Thursday prompted hundreds of customers to withdraw their savings from the bank's branches, forming long queues at ATM machines.
One of the bank's branch controllers, Joseph Wong, was quoted in media reports as saying up to 40 million patacas (US$5.1 million) had been withdrawn by Friday night.
Earlier, Macau's monetary authority issued a statement similarly urging customers not to panic as concern grew that the run on Banco Delta Asia deposits could spill into the wider market and undermine confidence in the territory's banks.
"There have been unusual withdrawals of deposits from certain branches of Banco Delta Asia ... the Monetary Authority of Macau has ... indicated its concern," a monetary authority statement said.
"At present the banking sector as a whole in Macau is operating in a stable and healthy manner," it added.
The US allegations followed reports last week that linked illicit income from Macau-based transactions to Pyongyang's nuclear weapons development programme.
The US Treasury Department also said Macau's lax attitude towards money laundering controls had resulted in Banco Delta Asia being used by North Korea to engage in "corrupt financial activities".
It designated Banco Delta Asia as a "primary money laundering concern".
This designation alerts the global community to the "illicit financial threat" posed by the bank.
The Macau government said it had set up a special team to investigate the bank, saying it was "highly concerned" over the allegations.
Banco Delta Asia's chairman, Hong Kong tycoon Stanley Au, denied any links to illicit activities.
"During the past 30 years the trading relationship between our group and North Korea has been openly acknowledged by the monetary authorities of Hong Kong and Macau as well as agencies in the US," reports quoted him as telling a media teleconference from Dubai.
"If we had done these things, they shouldn't have had to wait until today to accuse us" - AFP/de
Ping!
Sat, 17 Sep 2005 21:16:00 +1200 (NZST: Pacific/Auckland)
Sat, 17 Sep 2005 19:16:00 +1000 (EST: Australia/Sydney)
Sat, 17 Sep 2005 18:16:00 +0900 (JST: Asia/Tokyo)
Sat, 17 Sep 2005 17:16:00 +0800 (WST: Australia/Perth)
Sat, 17 Sep 2005 17:16:00 +0800 (HKT: Asia/Hong_Kong)
Sat, 17 Sep 2005 14:46:00 +0530 (IST: Asia/Calcutta)
Sat, 17 Sep 2005 13:16:00 +0400 (MSD: Europe/Moscow)
Sat, 17 Sep 2005 12:16:00 +0300 (IDT: Asia/Jerusalem)
Sat, 17 Sep 2005 11:16:00 +0200 (CEST: Europe/Amsterdam)
Sat, 17 Sep 2005 10:16:00 +0100 (BST: Europe/London)
Sat, 17 Sep 2005 09:16:00 +0000 (UT: Universal Time)
Sat, 17 Sep 2005 06:16:00 -0300 (BRT: America/Sao_Paulo)
Sat, 17 Sep 2005 06:16:00 -0300 (ART: America/Argentina/Buenos_Aires)
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Sat, 17 Sep 2005 02:16:00 -0700 (PDT: America/Los_Angeles)
Fri, 16 Sep 2005 23:16:00 -1000 (HST: Pacific/Honolulu)
Ha.
Banking? Corruption? Macau?
Unbeliveable!
/sarc
Can counterfeit US currency still be called queer after the hate crime bill is passed?
the washington times says north korea is starting a credit card......i guess it's called no visa!!!
"If we had done these things, they shouldn't have had to wait until today to accuse us" - AFP/de
No kidding. Somebody at the Department of State has some explaining to do.
Shocking I tell you. Absolutely shocking...
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