TERRORISM FINANCE COORDINATION OFFICER (TFCO)

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 006735 SIPDIS EUR/WE; EB/ESC/TFS FOR JEAN CLARK S/CT FOR TODD KUSHNER INL/C/CP FOR STEVEN PETERSON IO/PSC FOR BETSY FITZGERALD TREASURY/OFAC FOR PAUL LURIE E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/30/2015 TAGS: KTFN KVPR PTER EFIN ETTC PREL FR SUBJECT: TERRORISM FINANCE COORDINATION OFFICER (TFCO) REF: SECSTATE 175637 Classified By: Classified by DCM Karl W. Hofmann, Reason 1.4B/D ¶1. (SBU) Embassy Paris' Terrorist Financing Coordinating Officer (TFCO) is Otto H Van Maerssen, Unit Chief for Financial Affairs in the Economic Section. (E-mail: vanmaerssenOH@state.gov. Tel: 33-43-12-24-33 and Fax: 33-43-12-20-22 ). ¶2. (SBU) Deputy TFCO is Political Officer Peter Kujawinski (kujawinskipi@state.gov, Tel: 33-43-12-27-25, Fax: 33-43-12-26-63). ¶3. (C) Embassy DCM chairs a Law Enforcement, Counter Terrorism and Terrorist Financing Working Group in which TFCO and representatives from other Embassy entities dealing with terrorism finance participate. TFCO works with other relevant agencies at post to ensure coordinated approach to terrorist finance issues. Embassy political section works closely with French MFA S/CT equivalent (which makes decisions on listing entities that do not have to go through the EU clearinghouse procedure) to exchange information and request action. Embassy economic section coordinates with the Finance Ministry, which is the agency in charge of implementing decisions made by the Foreign Ministry or the EU clearinghouse. The Ambassador, DCM, and Political and Economic Minister-Counselors interact with other GOF entities and senior officials as required. ¶4. (SBU) Per ref request, we suggest coordination can be improved among TFCOs by first developing and then sharing a list, divided by regional bureaus for ease of use, of TFCOs. A regional conference would be an excellent next step, and Embassy Paris would be happy to help arrange such a conference should funds be made available from the Department. At such an event, it might make the most sense to include a public diplomacy segment targeted at financial sector representatives, to explain the sources of public information available from the USG and perhaps other governments, that can enable the finance industry to better engage in the CT effort. Please visit Paris' Classified Website at: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm STAPLETON