VIETNAM: TERRORIST FINANCE COORDINATION

UNCLAS HANOI 002860

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED

STATE FOR EB/ESC/TFS, S/CT, EAP/BCLTV, INL/C, IO/PHO
TREASURY FOR OFAC

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KTFN KVPR PTER EFIN ETTC PREL VM FINREF CTERR
SUBJECT: VIETNAM: TERRORIST FINANCE COORDINATION

REF: (A) HANOI 02744 (B) STATE 201391 (C)HANOI 01940


1. (U) As a follow-up to the meeting described in ref A,
Hanoi's full TFC team met on October 7, 2004 to clarify and
coordinate Post's position on terrorist financing. While
terrorist financing and money laundering are similar, these
two issues are treated separately by the Government of
Vietnam.


2. (U) In visits detailed in ref C to the State Bank of
Vietnam (SBV),the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) and the
Ministry of Justice (MOJ),Econ Assistant learned from
officials at all three organizations that they believe that
the current strict controls governing the financial sector
are sufficient protection and deterrence against terrorist
financing activities.


3. (U) Vietnamese officials are also confident that the new
anti-money laundering decree will provide them with adequate
authority to combat money laundering, both internal and
international. However, this decree is in draft only and
Post has received no response to a June 22 official request
for a copy of the draft version. A recent query resulted in a
promise that our office would be notified if the drafters
received permission to release a copy.


4. (SBU) The future problem may be establishing Vietnamese
authority for cooperation. The MPS currently possesses no
practical ability to support international money laundering
investigations in conjunction with DEA or any foreign law
enforcement agency. Even when the official decree on anti-
money laundering is in effect, it will not cover the
terrorist finance issue. The SBV cooperates by investigating
the names designated by the United Nations and has reported
that they found no evidence of financial activity; but if in
the future a name produces results, further cooperation might
be limited.


5. (U) As reported ref C, more visits by Treasury officials
to Hanoi in order to encourage development of regulations and
competent authorities, to educate and to explain potential
problems and to coordinate technical assistance would be
helpful and well-received. Technical assistance could pave
the way for effective cooperation.

MARINE