Last week Christopher Hill thought the BDA funds issue was solved, which of course turned out not to be the case; Bank of China officials appeared to be unaware of what Chinese diplomatic officials had to say about the situation, and also appeared not to want to receive the tainted North Korean money.

However, there is another dimension to the story:

A British investor who is buying a North Korean bank said Tuesday he is trying to block the transfer of money it holds in a Macau bank in a move that might complicate a deal with the North to shut down its nuclear programs.

[. . .]

The British investor, Colin McAskill, told The Associated Press he “would take whatever steps necessary” to stop the unauthorized transfer of $7 million of the funds held in Macau’s Banco Delta Asia. He said he has written twice to the territory’s bank regulator, the Macau Monetary Authority, without receiving a reply.

McAskill has agreed to buy North Korea’s Daedong Credit Bank, which is majority foreign-owned, and is representing it in discussions with Macau authorities.

He denied a report that he threatened legal action but said that is an option.

Asked whether the money came from legitimate ventures, McAskill said in an e-mail, “I have answered this question many times and been widely quoted as saying, Yes it is.”

[. . .]

McAskill said Daedong wants to be allowed to move the money to a temporary account at another Macau bank and later move it one of Daedong’s correspondent banks. (emphasis added)

It will be interesting to see how this pans out.

I will note that unless Mr. McAskill has had direct and personal oversight of the operations that the $7 million he refers to as being legitimate, it is highly unlikely that he can make such a claim with any validity.