FATF Member Embassies Not United on Uzbekistan

C O N F I D E N T I A L TASHKENT 001341 C O R R E C T E D C O P Y - CHANGE IN TEXT PARA 1 DEPT FOR SCA/CEN E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/21/2018 TAGS: ECON EFIN PGOV PINR PREL KCRM UZ SUBJECT: FATF Member Embassies Not United on Uzbekistan REF: a) STATE 122098, b) BERLIN 1564, c) TASHKENT 1158 CLASSIFIED BY: BERLINER, NICHOLAS ¶1. (C) Ambassador delivered reftel points to Uzbek Deputy Prime Minister Azimov and Foreign Minister Norov on November 19 on the margins of meetings with TRANSCOM Commander General Duncan McNabb. Azimov was already aware of the upcoming FATF team's visit and mentioned DAS Glaser by name. He nodded when the Ambassador stressed the importance we attach to this issue. Norov also indicated he was aware of our concerns, though he pointed to Azimov as the GOU's lead on this issue. ¶2. (C) On November 20, Ambassador met with colleagues from France, Italy, UK, Germany and Japan urging them to make a similar approach to the GOU. The French and UK ambassadors said that they would deliver the message to the Uzbek side and that their governments supported FATF's call for Uzbekistan to correct its AML/CFT regime. The German DCM indicated that Berlin did not want to get out in front of this issue with Uzbekistan and that his embassy would have to seek instruction. Likewise, the Italian and Japanese DCMs said that they would require instructions from capitals before making any demarche. ¶3. (C) Comment: Both Germany and France said that they, like the U.S., had been approached by the GOU in advance of the FATF's October meeting in Rio de Janeiro. This was further indication of the fact that the GOU is concerned about this issue. The Uzbeks have maintained that they suspended parts of the law that were overly burdensome for the banks or that threatened to further erode citizens' already virtually non-existent trust in their banking system. None of our interlocutors believed that Uzbek banking system is complicit terrorist financing. However, given the degree of domestic corruption and associations with organizations and individuals in Russia, Ukraine and other former Soviet countries, there are elements in Uzbekistan that do not welcome undue scrutiny of their financial transactions. The Uzbeks frequently complain that they are the victims of double standards and point to the fact that other countries in the region have no AML/CFT laws at all. As we continue to work with the Uzbeks on this issue, it is essential to disabuse them of the notion that Uzbekistan is being singled out - the FATF is a multilateral body and the norms that are expected of Uzbekistan are international norms that apply to all countries. NORLAND