BAHRAIN: MENAFATF CAIRO DEMARCHE

UNCLAS MANAMA 000707 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EB/ESC/TFS FOR BADKINS, S/CT FOR VNICHOLS, NEA/ARP, IO/PSC FOR BFITZGERALD TREASURY FOR DGLASER AND OFAC FOR RWERNER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EFIN ETTC KTFN PREL PTER BA REGION CTR SUBJECT: BAHRAIN: MENAFATF CAIRO DEMARCHE REF: STATE 59414 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED; PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY. NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION. ¶1. (SBU) Econoff and TreasAtt April 19 delivered reftel demarche to Bahrain Monetary Agency (BMA) Compliance Director Ahmed Bumtaia and provided him with a copy of the MENAFATF Charities best practices paper. Bumtaia said he was unfamiliar with the paper but promised to study it carefully. ¶2. (SBU) He noted that, in principle, individuals are sensitive to the Islamic concept of anonymity in charity-giving. He explained that the purpose of this anonymity was to avoid receiving recognition for one's charitable acts, and that revealing to whom one has donated and how much tended to diminish the purity of the act. He said that for this reason, donors feel their donations are private matters that should not be subject to outside scrutiny. Bumtaia said he countered this by asserting that, for the donor's protection, the Compliance Directorate had the responsibility to ensure that donations were going to clean charities. ¶3. (U) Emboffs assured Bumtaia that the MENAFATF paper was a local product reflecting regional collaboration. Bumtaia promised to contact Emboffs with any questions or reactions to the paper. He said it was likely that he would head Bahrain's delegation to the Fourth Plenary, set for Doha in September. MONROE