SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUNDS: GOK LETTER TO TREASURY ON

UNCLAS KUWAIT 001761 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARP, EB; TREASURY FOR U/S MCCORMICK E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EFIN EINV KU SUBJECT: SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUNDS: GOK LETTER TO TREASURY ON BEST PRACTICES REF: KUWAIT 1600 ¶1. (SBU) The Central Bank of Kuwait Deputy Governor Dr. Nabeel A. Al-Mannae provided post with a letter addressed to U.S. Treasury Under Secretary for International Affairs David ¶H. McCormick, in which he expressed CBK interest in sovereign wealth fund governance. The letter is a follow-up to meetings held in October between Dr. Al-Mannae and U/S McCormick (reftel),in which McCormick suggested the Central Bank work with the IMF to create a set of SWF best practices for Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWF's). ¶2. (SBU) Following is post's informal translation of Deputy Governor Al-Mannae's letter to U/S McCormick, dated December 5, 2007 Dear Mr. McCormick, I appreciate your letter of November 5, 2007 recalling our brief meeting in Kuwait in which we had the opportunity to exchange some thoughts on developing voluntary guidelines for sovereign wealth funds. Pursuant to our interest in matters relating to sovereign wealth fund governance, the Central Bank of Kuwait sent a delegation, including one member from the Kuwait Investment Authority, to the IMF's First Roundtable for Sovereign Assets and Reserve Managers held in Washington, D.C. on November 15-16, 2007. We found the discussions in the Roundtable to be quite productive. We are interested in participating in all international endeavors aimed at developing guidelines for the management of sovereign wealth funds and will look forward to such opportunities in the future. (complimentary closing) ********************************************* * For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s Visit Kuwait's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ ********************************************* * MISENHEIMER