US Appeals Court Upholds Ruling Against Chinese Banks in North Korea Sanctions Probe

South Korean army soldiers walk by a signboard showing the distance to the North Korean capital Pyongyang and to South's capital Seoul from Imjingang Station near the border village of the Panmunjom in Paju on Sept. 11, 2016. Ahn Young-joon/AP

WASHINGTON—A U.S. appeals court said on July 30 it had upheld a ruling by a U.S. judge who held three large Chinese banks in contempt for refusing to comply with subpoenas in a probe into violations of sanctions on North Korea, opening the way for heavy daily fines.

“The District Court’s contempt orders against all three Banks appealed from in these causes is hereby affirmed,” the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said in a filing on Tuesday. It did not make public the reasons.