(C) DUTCH REVIEWING TFTP AND SWIFT

C O N F I D E N T I A L THE HAGUE 002572 SIPDIS TERRORISM FINANCE PRE NOTIFICATION PRIORITY SIPDIS STATE FOR EB/ESC/TFS, S/CT, IO/PSC STATE ALSO FOR EUR/UBI (RREITER) TREASURY FOR TFFC AND OFAC TREASURY ALSO FOR MJACOBSON, JFREIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/07/2016 TAGS: KTFN EFIN PTER ECON NL SUBJECT: (C) DUTCH REVIEWING TFTP AND SWIFT REF: STATE 194473 Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Chat Blakeman, reasons 1.4(b) an d (d) ¶1. (C) Econoff delivered on December 6 reftel points concerning SWIFT and the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program (TFTP) to Paul ten Westeneind, Policy Advisor, Integrity Policy Division, Dutch Ministry of Finance (MOF) and responsible for MOF responses to questions from the Dutch Parliament on SWIFT. DCM delivered points separately to Erik van Andel, Head of the Integrity Policy Division at the Dutch MOF. ¶2. (C) Both Dutch officials noted that the Working Party (WP) report focused "solely" on data privacy, while the MOF believes the discussion must also include combating terrorist financing and ensuring efficient financial transfers. Ten Westeneind said that this emphasis would "hopefully lead to a Dutch position closer to that of the U.S." Both officials noted the advisory nature of the working group, and said the report was not an official statement of EU policy. In public, the Dutch will state that they are working toward a consensus decision among various government ministries and the financial sector and will respond only when this has been formulated, the officials added. ¶3. (C) On next steps, they said the official Dutch response to the EU is due in a month, and that they hope to have their conclusions ready by January 1. The MOF -- the leading ministry on this issue -- will work with the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice, the National Counter-Terrorism Coordinator, and the financial sector to draft these conclusions, ten Westeneinde said. They have heard the MOF's position before, so it should be "well received," he added. ¶4. (C) Van Andel said that it "would be very unusual" if any member state took unilateral action prior to submitting their responses to the EU. ¶5. (SBU) We are scheduled to meet again with MOF the week of December 11 to discuss the issue further. ARNALL