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Benjamin W. Hutten Quoted in ACAMS Article, “US Shipping Ban Against North Korea Draws Concern from Banks: Sources”

ACAMS

Benjamin W. Hutten

Benjamin Hutten was quoted on December 12, 2017 in an ACAMS article, “US Shipping Ban Against North Korea Draws Concern from Banks: Sources,” which discussed the scrutiny banks will receive following an executive order in relation to North Korea sanctions. The article stated, “Executive Order 13810, issued by President Donald Trump on Sep. 20, broadly expands U.S. sanctions against North Korea by authorizing asset freezes and correspondent-banking bans against financial institutions, individuals and countries still trading with the increasingly isolated nation. On Nov. 21, the department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control blacklisted 13 entities and 20 vessels U.S. officials accused of facilitating commerce with North Korea or exporting North Korean workers abroad.”

Hutten noted, “That OFAC would interpret the executive order in the exact way that banks fear remains unlikely. The language of the order imposes prohibitions on vessels so directly that it would be difficult to interpret that as a requirement on a bank.”

The article further stated, “The executive order’s 180-day shipping prohibition has precedent in the form of a near identical ban OFAC imposed in March 2016 against vessels that dock in Cuba”

In response, Hutten said, “U.S. officials responsible for the shipping ban against the Caribbean nation did not expect banks to identify all vessels that had touched the country unless they had already obtained documents and other information suggesting that was the case.”

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