Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06BISHKEK1604
2006-11-14 11:00:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Bishkek
Cable title:  

KYRGYZSTAN: 2006-2007 INSCR, PART II, FINANCIAL

Tags:  KCRM EFIN KTFN PGOV KG 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0001
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHEK #1604/01 3181100
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 141100Z NOV 06
FM AMEMBASSY BISHKEK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8542
INFO RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
UNCLAS BISHKEK 001604 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

STATE FOR INL
STATE FOR SCA/CEN
JUSTICE FOR AFMLS, OIA, AND OPDAT
TREASURY FOR FINCEN AND EB/ESC/TFS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KCRM EFIN KTFN PGOV KG
SUBJECT: KYRGYZSTAN: 2006-2007 INSCR, PART II, FINANCIAL
CRIMES AND MONEY LAUNDERING

Ref: STATE 157000


UNCLAS BISHKEK 001604

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

STATE FOR INL
STATE FOR SCA/CEN
JUSTICE FOR AFMLS, OIA, AND OPDAT
TREASURY FOR FINCEN AND EB/ESC/TFS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KCRM EFIN KTFN PGOV KG
SUBJECT: KYRGYZSTAN: 2006-2007 INSCR, PART II, FINANCIAL
CRIMES AND MONEY LAUNDERING

Ref: STATE 157000



1. (U) No report was published for Kyrgyzstan in last year's
International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, Part II,
Financial Crimes and Money Laundering. This is a new report
for Kyrgyzstan. Embassy point of contact for this report is
Resident Legal Advisor Irfan Saeed, e-mail:
SaeedIA@state.gov.


2. (SBU) Follow is Embassy Bishkek's submission for the 2006-
2007 INSCR, Part II.

Begin Text:

The Kyrgyz Republic is not a regional financial center.
Although Kyrgyzstan adopted a new anti-money laundering
statute in 2006, gaps still exist in enforcement and
implementation. The new law has not been tested in court.
The Kyrgyz banking system remains comparatively
underdeveloped. Like other countries in the region, the
Kyrgyz Republic's alternative remittance systems are
susceptible to money laundering activity or trade-based
fraud. The smuggling of consumer goods, tax and tariff
evasion, official corruption and narcotics trafficking
continue as the major sources of illegal proceeds within the
Kyrgyz Republic. The lack of political will, resource
constraints, inefficient financial systems, and, of course,
corruption, all serve to stifle efforts to effectively
combat money laundering and terrorist financing.

Money Laundering/Terrorist Financing primarily occurs in the
banking system. Oversight of the banking sector is
generally weak, and Kyrgyz law enforcement agencies lack the
expertise and resources necessary to effectively monitor and
investigate financial irregularities. Kyrgyzstan is not
considered an offshore financial center, nor does it have a
free trade zone.

In June 2006, the Kyrgyz Republic adopted a fairly
comprehensive law on "Counteracting Terrorist Financing and
Legalization (Money Laundering) of Proceeds from Crime".
The law defines predicate offenses and criminalizes income
obtained as a result of a criminal action. Criminal action
is further defined as the commission of any act designated a
crime by the Criminal Code of Kyrgyzstan. The statutory
threshold amount that triggers mandatory reporting is

US$25,000. The money laundering law also includes secrecy
provisions that mandate civil and criminal liability for
disclosure of client and ownership information, as well as
for abuse of official position, which safeguards effective
reporting. It also requires mandatory reporting of
suspicious transactions, in addition to a five-year record
retention by all Kyrgyz financial institutions. In its
current form, the effective date of implementation for the
new law is November 8, 2006.

The money laundering controls are applied equally to all
banking and non-banking financial institutions, to include
banks, credit institutions, stock brokerages, foreign
exchange offices, casinos, insurance companies, etc., and to
intermediaries, such as lawyers and accountants. The new
law mandates that all such entities report threshold amount
transactions as well as all suspicious transactions. The
one exception appears to be automobile dealers. At this
point, automobile dealers are not required to report any
high dollar transactions.

Chapter III of the money laundering law establishes a
financial intelligence service, a state body authorized to
collect and analyze financial intelligence. The financial
intelligence service will collect and analyze information
related to financial transactions; develop and implement
measures on improving systems of prevention, detection, and
suppression of suspicious transactions; and submit
instituted cases to law enforcement, the prosecutor's
office, and to the court for investigation and prosecution.

Implementation of the financial intelligence service has
been slow. Resources are inadequate, and the unit does not
yet have the expertise, knowledge, or resources to become a
functioning and effective entity to combat money laundering
and terrorist financing. Criticism of the new law is
focused in two areas. First, experts claim the law does not

actually criminalize money laundering, only the actions
surrounding illegal proceeds of a crime. Thus, the new law
is not FATF (Financial Action Task Force) compliant.
Second, experts also claim the threshold amount is set too
high, US$25,000, which is extraordinarily high compared to
the income standards of the average Kyrgyz. These
deficiencies have been discussed in working group form, but
have not been addressed in amendment form to date.

Current laws, as well as pending legislation, do not address
the issue of asset forfeiture. In this respect, Kyrgyz law
does not address avenues for seizing and forfeiting assets
derived from criminal activity. Existing criminal laws do
provide for fines and levies against property, but do not
address mechanisms to actually seize assets or property.

Regarding international cooperation, chapter IV of the new
money laundering law does provide for an international
exchange of information and legal assistance. The law
mandates that the new financial intelligence service, in
compliance with international treaty obligations,
collaborate with foreign counterparts in financial
intelligence and terrorist financing matters.

The Kyrgyz Republic remains an active member of the Eurasian
Group (EAG) on combating money laundering and financing of
terrorism, a FATF (financial action task force) regional
body designed to coordinate technical assistance and analyze
trends in money laundering techniques. The EAG will
undertake a comprehensive evaluation and review of relevant
Kyrgyz legislation regarding financial crimes.

The Kyrgyz Republic, along with Russia, China, Belarus,
Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan, formed the Eurasian Group for
Counteraction to the Legalization of Illegal Incomes and
Terrorism Financing. The Kyrgyz Republic is a party to the
1988 UN Convention of Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances,
the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and
the UN International Convention for the Suppression of the
Financing of Terrorism. The Kyrgyz Republic has also signed,
and ratified, the UN Convention against Corruption.

The Government of the Kyrgyz Republic should continue to
strengthen legislation as it relates to money laundering and
financial crimes that support terrorist organizations, both
within financial institutions and with those activities that
circumvent financial institutions.

End text.

YOVANOVITCH