Chinese Banks Are Probed Over Aid to North Korea’s Nuclear Arms

The U.S. is investigating hundreds of millions of dollars in financial transactions involving three big Chinese banks that allegedly helped finance North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, according to an appeals court opinion unsealed Aug. 6.

The July 30 ruling upheld an order by a Washington district-court judge compelling the banks to comply with subpoenas for information about the transactions. The appeals court said prosecutors don’t “currently” suspect the Chinese banks of knowingly breaking the law but that the banks “hold records that the United States government thinks may clarify how North Korea finances its nuclear weapons program.”

U.S. prosecutors suspect ...