22 U.S.C. § 9221: Determinations with respect to North Korea as a jurisdiction of primary money laundering concern

stated, “Given [North Korea’s] counterfeiting of U.S. currency, narcotics trafficking and use of accounts world-wide to conduct proliferation-related transactions, the line between illicit and licit North Korean money is nearly invisible.”; and urged financial institutions worldwide to “think carefully about the risks of doing any North Korea-related business”; “remains intent on engaging in proliferation, selling arms as well as bringing in material”; and was “aggressively pursuing the effort to establish front companies.”; and in reference to North Korea’s distribution of high-quality counterfeit United States currency, that “North Korea is continuing to try to pass a supernote into the international financial system”; and the Department of the Treasury would soon introduce new currency with improved security features to protect against counterfeiting by the Government of North Korea. expressed concern at deficiencies in North Korea’s regimes to combat money laundering and terrorist financing; urged North Korea to adopt a plan of action to address significant deficiencies in those regimes and the serious threat those deficiencies pose to the integrity of the international financial system; urged all jurisdictions to apply countermeasures to protect the international financial system from ongoing and substantial money laundering and terrorist financing risks emanating from North Korea; urged all jurisdictions to advise their financial institutions to give special attention to business relationships and transactions with North Korea, including North Korean companies and financial institutions; and to protect against correspondent relationships being used to bypass or evade countermeasures and risk mitigation practices; and to take into account money laundering and terrorist financing risks when considering requests by North Korean financial institutions to open branches and subsidiaries in their respective jurisdictions. recommendation on financial sanctions related to proliferation; and guidance on the implementation of such sanctions; decided that United Nations member states should apply enhanced monitoring and other legal measures to prevent the provision of financial services or the transfer of property that could contribute to activities prohibited by applicable United Nations Security Council resolutions; and activities prohibited by an applicable United Nations Security Council resolution; or the evasion of such prohibitions. acknowledges the efforts of the United Nations Security Council to impose limitations on, and to require the enhanced monitoring of, transactions involving North Korean financial institutions that could contribute to sanctioned activities; to immediately designate North Korea as a jurisdiction of primary money laundering concern; and to adopt stringent special measures to safeguard the financial system against the risks posed by North Korea’s willful evasion of sanctions and its illicit activities; and activities sanctioned by applicable United Nations Security Council resolutions; or the evasion of such sanctions. Not later than 180 days after February 18, 2016 , the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Attorney General, and in accordance with section 5318A of title 31 , shall determine whether reasonable grounds exist for concluding that North Korea is a jurisdiction of primary money laundering concern. If the Secretary of the Treasury determines under paragraph (1) that reasonable grounds exist for concluding that North Korea is a jurisdiction of primary money laundering concern, the Secretary, in consultation with the Federal functional regulators (as defined in section 6809 of title 15 ), shall impose 1 or more of the special measures described in section 5318A(b) of title 31 with respect to the jurisdiction of North Korea. Not later than 90 days after the date on which the Secretary of the Treasury makes a determination under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that contains the reasons for such determination. The report submitted under subparagraph (A) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex.