SWITZERLAND SHUTTING DOWN COLENCO'S BUSINESS WITH

S E C R E T BERN 000273

DEPT FOR ISN/RA (J.ALLEN-CLOSE),NEA/IR, EUR/PRA, AND
EUR/AGS (Y.SAINT-ANDRE),NSC FOR JEFF HOVENIER, DEPT OF
JUSTICE BRUCE SWARTZ

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/30/2019
TAGS: IR MNUC PARM PHUM PREL PTER KWAC ECON ETRD
EINV, SZ
SUBJECT: SWITZERLAND SHUTTING DOWN COLENCO'S BUSINESS WITH
IRAN

REF: 08 BERN 464

Classified By: CDA L.Carter for reasons 1.4(b) and (d)


1. (S) Summary: Swiss Minister for Economics and Trade
Doris Leuthard called CDA in to advise that the Swiss Federal
Councilors had decided in a special session to shut down
Swedish firm Colenco's commercial activities in Iran. The
Minister also reaffirmed the commitment of the Swiss
government to accept several detainees from Guantanamo Bay
for resettlement in Switzerland. Minister Leuthard made it
clear that these two activities were linked to the
achievement of a political settlement in the case of Swiss
banking giant, UBS. The US court is scheduled to hear
arguments in the civil case on July 13 and it is clear that
the GOS hopes a settlement can be reached before the hearing
date. End Summary.


2. (S) Minister Leuthard began the meeting by describing
today's special session of the Federal Council which was
focused on what steps the Swiss government could take to
advance a political solution of the UBS case. The Council
considered action on the Colenco case, long advocated by the
USG and a major topic during the February meeting between
Secretary Clinton and Foreign Minister Calmy Rey, was one
proactive measure the Swiss government could take in this
direction. Since action in this case falls under the purview
of Minister Leuthard, she was tasked to take immediate action
to shut down Colenco's operations and to notify the USG. The
additional information that the USG experts provided to the
GOS on June 25th was pivotal in providing the Swiss with
adequate actionable intelligence to make a legal finding that
Colenco is violating the sanctions on Iran. Leuthard
confirmed that the information we provided tracked with the
findings of the Swiss intelligence services. The Swiss now
consider that Colenco is not fulfilling their requirements
under the dual use provisions of Swiss law. Leuthard also
advised that they have notified the Swedish government of
their intent to go forward with official action against
Colenco.


3. (S) Colenco was not able to adequately defend their
activities in Iran by a deadline set by the Swiss government.
Leuthard stated that Colenco will be formally told to cease
their activities in Iran on July 2. She further opined that
should the government or other conditions relating to
proliferation change for the better in Iran, Colenco may be
able to resume their activities in the future. She
emphasized that this shut-down was a "suspension". She
promised to provide us with a written copy of the Colenco
decision.


4. (S) Leuthard then turned the topic of discussion to
Swiss willingness to accept several detainees from Guatanamo
for resettlement and encouraged us to provide as much data as
possible quickly so that the Swiss could move forward. CDA
advised that more bio and medical data had been received
today and was being delivered via a separate channel.


5. (S) At this point, Leuthard emphasized that these two
actions were "elements showing that Switzerland is committed
to resolving all issues between our countries." To bring
home the point, she reiterated that this resolve extended
especially to finding a political solution to the UBS case.


CARTER