PARALLEL MARKET DISRUPTED BY FREEZING OF U.S.

UNCLAS CARACAS 000406

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

HQ SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
TREASURY FOR RJARPE
NSC FOR RKING
COMMERCE FOR 4431/MAC/WH/JLAO

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EFIN VE
SUBJECT: PARALLEL MARKET DISRUPTED BY FREEZING OF U.S.
"UMBRELLA" ACCOUNT

REF: A. CARACAS 137

B. 2007 CARACAS 2362


1. (U) The parallel foreign exchange market in Venezuela was
severely disrupted on March 26 after an "umbrella" U.S. bank
account was apparently frozen. According to local brokers,
the account in question was a Bank of America account held by
a Florida-based company called Rosemont Corporation. This
account had multiple sub-accounts used by up to 54 local
brokers, or the majority of those participating in the
parallel market. The freezing of the account stopped most
transactions on the parallel market as even brokers without
Rosemont sub-accounts were hesitant to do business with other
brokers out of concern their counterparties' funds might be
directly or indirectly tied up with the Rosemont account.


2. (U) According to several brokers, the parallel market
began to function again March 27, although with relatively
high spreads between the buy and sell prices. As all
sub-accounts of the Rosemont account remained frozen for
outgoing transfers, brokers whose only U.S. bank accounts
were through Rosemont could not complete transactions. One
broker Econoff consulted said the advantage of her company's
sub-account through Rosemont was the speed with which Bank of
America processed transactions relative to the several other
U.S. banks at which her company had accounts. Financial
executive Miguel Octavio, in a post on his Devil's Excrement
blog, suggested the ease of opening accounts through Rosemont
appealed to many brokers. There are rumors that the major
brokers PDVSA uses when it sells dollars into the parallel
market (ref A) operate through sub-accounts of Rosemont's
Bank of America account.


3. (SBU) Though it is unclear whether U.S. authorities
ordered Bank of America to freeze Rosemont's account, the
action is clearly linked to a money laundering indictment
brought against Rosemont executive director Rama Vyasulu by a
grand jury in Massachusetts. Law enforcement officials at
Post confirmed the charges against Vyasulu, noting they were
related to a drug trafficking investigation and not related
to the functioning of Venezuela's parallel market per se.
The Boston-based DEA agent handling the case told Econoff he
was unable to comment further on the case or legal
proceedings.


4. (SBU) Comment: This incident is another example of the
costs of the government of the Bolivarian Republic of
Venezuela's (GBRV) economic model. As the Central Bank sells
fewer dollars at the official exchange rate, more and more
transactions are shifting to the parallel market. While the
parallel market functions as a market (unlike the GBRV's
allocation of hard currency at the official rate),even when
it is functioning smoothly transaction costs are much higher
than in a normal foreign exchange market. Though it could
never eliminate an alternative foreign exchange market and
indeed is the largest supplier of dollars into the current
parallel market, the GBRV has taken a number of steps that
reduce the market's transparency and efficiency (ref B). The
structure of the Rosemont account, and the impact its
freezing is having on the parallel market, are not surprising
in this context, nor is the notion that the parallel market
could be exploited more easily than normal foreign exchange
markets for money laundering purposes. The parallel market
should spring back relatively quickly, albeit perhaps with a
slightly different structure of brokers and accounts, but not
without having imposed greater transaction costs on even
legitimate market participants. End comment.
CAULFIELD