SWIFT messaging system says bans North Korean banks blacklisted by U.N.

FILE PHOTO - A North Korean flag flies on a mast at the Permanent Mission of North Korea in Geneva October 2, 2014. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Belgium-based SWIFT said on Wednesday it has stopped providing financial services to all North Korean banks under U.N. 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.