Banco Delta Asia (滙業銀行) is a Macao-based bank owned by the Delta Asia Financial Group and founded in 1935 by Au Wing Ngok, father of Stanley Au, the current chairman and majority shareholder. It the 10th largest bank in Macao with eight branches and 150 employees.
In March 2007, the U.S. Treasury ordered U.S. companies and financial institutions to cut links with the bank on account of allegations concerning BDA's business with the government of North Korea, which at that time kept $25 million at the bank in various accounts. The case is considered a notable use of Section 311 the USA Patriot Act to crack down on the use of the international financial system by "rogue states" and "state sponsors of terrorism".
Although virtually every bank in Macao handled North Korean funds, U.S. regulators singled out BDA because the shutdown of a smaller bank would create less financial disruption. North Korea was able to gain access to funds deposited at the bank by raising the issue with the United States at the Six Party Talks on nuclear weapons technology in Beijing. However, the bank remains under U.S. sanction and is therefore unable to conduct business in either U.S. dollars or in Hong Kong dollars. The sanctions are said to have intimidated other banks from doing business with North Korea and disrupted the country's system for transferring foreign exchange. Macau has responded by stepping up enforcement of anti money laundering laws.
Read more about Banco Delta Asia: North Korea and Six-Party Talks
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