THAILAND: REACTION TO FATF GUIDANCE ON IRAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L BANGKOK 005745 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR ISN, T TREASURY FOR TFFC - LADAN ARCHIN E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/08/2017 TAGS: PARM PREL MNUC EFIN TH SUBJECT: THAILAND: REACTION TO FATF GUIDANCE ON IRAN REF: SECSTATE 149648 Classified By: Economic Counselor Robert D. Griffiths, reason 1.4 (b) a nd (d) ¶1. (U) Econoff met on November 6-8 with RTG officials to deliver points on Financial Action Task Force (FATF) actions to underscore the threat posed by Iran to the international financial system. The officials met were: Maj. Gen. Termchai Srivixien Assistant Director, National Coordinating Center for Combating Terrorism and Transnational Crime (NCC-CTTC) Col. Seehanat Prayoonrat Deputy Secretary General, Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) Ms. Penprapa Vongkovit Minister Counselor, International Security Unit Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) ¶2. (SBU) The officials said they were aware of the FATF public statement of concern and additional guidance regarding Iran, and would distribute both to the Bank of Thailand for dissemination to the commercial banking sector. In side remarks, Ms. Penprapa of MFA said the RTG urges the banking sector to take all FATF guidance seriously as a matter of course. Beyond the FATF guidance, specific warnings or advisories about doing business with Iran would likely not be issued. ¶3. (SBU) Penprapa noted Thailand's significant trade relationship with Iran, and said that while Thailand shared the concerns of the U.N. Security Council with regard to Iran's nuclear activities, it also agreed with the Non-Aligned Movement's support for states' rights to pursue nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. Penprapa said that Thailand had a trade surplus with Iran with a ratio of exports to imports of 10 to 1, and that trade was expected to increase with new credit agreements arranged with Iranian government trade financing entities. She compared Iran's financial system favorably with those of other states such as Syria, Libya and North Korea. ¶4. (C) In a separate meeting, Col. Seehanat of AMLO said he would take the guidance seriously and asked whether the USG was considering adding Iran to the FATF list of non-cooperation countries (NCCT). Seehanat added, "If you want this to work in Thailand, you must put Iran on the NCCT. It would be much easier for the rest of the government to take stronger action." BOYCE