JAMAICA: TERRORISM FINANCING COORDINATING OFFICER

C O N F I D E N T I A L KINGSTON 002200 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE PLEASE PASS TO EB/ESC/TFS, S/CT (PATTY HILL), INL/C/CP (STEVEN PETERSON),IO/PSC (JOHN SANDAGE),WHA/CAR (RANDALL BUDDEN) E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/08/2016 TAGS: EFIN ETTC KTFN KVPR PREL PTER JM SUBJECT: JAMAICA: TERRORISM FINANCING COORDINATING OFFICER REF: STATE 181096 Classified By: Ambassador Brenda L. Johnson, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) This message responds to questions raised in reftel. Answers are keyed to the format given. A) Primary Terrorism Financing Coordinating Officer (TFCO): Lloyd Moss Political/Economic Counselor Telephone: (876) 935-6083 Fax: (876) 935-6029 E-mail: mosslw@state.gov B) Deputy TFCO: John Morgan Economic Officer Telephone: (876) 935-6028 Fax: (876) 935-6029 E-mail: morganjs@state.gov C) Post has largely focused on efforts to strengthen the GOJ's Financial Investigations Division (FID),especially through the Narcotics Affairs Section. Once Jamaica passes the Proceeds of Crime Act, that unit will formally become the country's Financial Investigations Unit (FIU). Jamaica wishes to join the Egmont Group, but has not yet done so. Regional meetings among TFCOs have not yet occurred, which leads in many cases to duplication of efforts and wasted resources. The Department of the Treasury's Office of Technical Assistance, for example, has been active in Jamaica in recent months, giving training and offering expertise in a number of areas germane to counterterrorism financing. Given that the region's economies tend to lack adequate resources, regional trainings, workshops, and seminars would leverage these limited funds. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has floated the idea of sending teams to the Caribbean to do "round-robin" training, hitting multiple countries in a single trip; perhaps State and Treasury could canvas USPTO for their experiences and lessons learned in trying to set this program up. Given Jamaican attitudes towards privacy in relation to the banking sector, public outreach is difficult. Post welcomes any guidance on best practices in this area. D) Jamaica is not currently included on the matrix. The country selection criteria generally do not apply to Jamaica, except under number 5: Regional Leader. The following are the answers for that matrix: National Authority to freeze terrorist funds: YES Signed/ratified UN Convention on Terrorist Financing: YES, under the Terrorism Act (2005) Implementation of UNSCRs 1267, 1373, 1390, 1455: YES Adopted anti-money laundering legislation: YES Established Financial Intelligence Unit: NO (see 'C' above) Egmont member: NO (see 'C' above) Member of FATF or FATF-style regional body: YES Issued a freeze order on terrorist-linked assets: YES Thorough search of financial institutions for terrorist assets: Occasionally Timely sharing of terror finance information: Occasionally Outreach to U.S. intelligence and law enforcement: Occasionally The above information applies in the same manner to both the Hizballah/Hamas page as well as the Al-Qa'ida and affiliates page. With regard to the last three questions, the GOJ is responsive and willing to assist. Simply put, they infrequently have sensitive information of this nature before the USG. If they did, the answers above would more appropriately be 'Regularly'. Johnson