SWIFT bans N. Korean lenders

Belgium-based SWIFT said yesterday it had stopped providing financial services to all North Korean banks under United Nation sanctions, as international tensions rise over Pyongyang’s increasingly aggressive military behaviour. The financial messaging system said it stopped providing services to the North Korean banks after Belgian authorities withdrew authorisation that had enabled SWIFT to serve the banks. The withdrawal of the authorisation came in response to the “current international” situation relating to North Korea and ongoing discussions in the UN Security Council, said SWIFT.