PORTUGAL: SUPPORTIVE OF TFTP AND SWIFT "INFORMED

UNCLAS LISBON 000218

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

TREASURY FOR JAMES FREIS AND MICHAEL JACOBSON

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EFIN ECON PTER KTFN PO
SUBJECT: PORTUGAL: SUPPORTIVE OF TFTP AND SWIFT "INFORMED
CONSENT"

REF: A. 2006 STATE 194473


B. TREASURY DE RUEATRS #0450 0101424


1. (SBU) In response to Embassy outreach on the Terrorist
Finance Tracking Program (TFTP) and SWIFT per reftel a,
Ministry of Finance Chief of Staff Goncalo Castilho dos
Santos responded via a Jan 10 letter acknowledging the
program's important role in fighting terrorist finance,
encouraging continued US-EU dialogue, and supporting
"informed consent" for SWIFT clients. Below is an informal
translation of the body of the letter:

Begin Text:

Although the EU is presently evaluating (TFTP) conformity
with national and EU Data Privacy legislation, the Portuguese
Government shares the understanding that the program is an
important instrument for national and international security
in the fight against terrorist financing, thus it should
continue to receive the support of the international
community.

In order to find a balanced solution to reconcile the
legitimate and vital objectives of the fight against
terrorist financing and the rights of citizens to data
privacy, it is important to strengthen the constructive
dialogue between EU member states and the U.S.

Therefore, it is desirable for SWIFT to develop transparent
and informative procedures to be rendered to bank clients
whenever their data is provided to U.S. authorities, as
stipulated in Directive 95/46/EC - regarding the protection
of individuals as it pertains to the processing of personal
data and on the free movement of such data - thereby allowing
for the resolution of issues raised by the EU members'
National Commissions responsible for personal data protection.


2. (SBU) Separately, Ministry of Justice Chief of Staff
Filipe Costa, though not familiar with the SWIFT aspect of
the issue, underscored to post that the Government has the
authority, with a court order, to examine an individual's
bank records, particularly in the case of fraud and tax
evasion. He told us his Ministry is considering
strengthening the authority of law enforcement bodies to gain
access to the bank accounts of individuals suspected of a
range of criminal activities.


3. (SBU) Per post's most recent International Narcotics
Control Strategy Report - Part II submission, "Portugal has a
comprehensive anti-money laundering regime that criminalizes
the laundering of proceeds of serious offenses, including
terrorism, arms trafficking, kidnapping and corruption.
Financial and non-financial institutions have a mandatory
requirement to report all suspicious transactions to the
Public Prosecutor regardless of threshold amount....Law
5/2002, Article 2 waives banking secrecy in cases related to
organized crime and financial crime."
Hoffman