DEMARCHE RESPONSE ON UNSCR 1874

UNCLAS SANTO DOMINGO 000757 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR JENNIFER CHALMERS, ISN/CPI DEPARTMENT FOR ISN, T EAP E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON EFIN PARM PREL KNNP DR SUBJECT: DEMARCHE RESPONSE ON UNSCR 1874 REF: A. STATE 66250 ¶B. SANTO DOMINGO 434 ¶C. 08 SANTO DOMINGO 417 ¶1. (U) Acting EcoPol Chief and EconOff delivered demarche (reftel A) to Mabel Feliz Baez, the president of the National Drug Counsel. Feliz Baez oversees the Financial Analysis Unit (UAF),which has oversight over financial transactions. Feliz Baez said she was aware of the United Nations resolutions but appreciated the copy of the Treasury Advisory issued by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). She said that the Dominican Republic would join worldwide efforts to prevent North Korea from financing its purchase of arms, but noted the UAF's limited technical ability at the present time to combat financial crimes and money laundering. ¶2. (U) Feliz Baez lamented the rampant money laundering operations (reftel B) and described difficult internal politics that prevent the UAF from exerting full control over financial transactions. She said that while the UAF has been able to oversee legal non-bank financial institutions, the banking sector is regulated and policed by the Superintendence of Banks, the leadership of which has resisted granting oversight powers to the UAF. Feliz Baez said that within one year, she expected the UAF to overcome these hurdles and more effectively realize its mission. ¶3. (U) On a separate note, Feliz Baez told EmbOffs that President Fernandez has privately assured her that the International Financial Center of the Americas (IFCA) law (reftel C)will be vetoed if Congress approves it. BULLEN