Cablegate: Switzerland Shutting Down Colenco's Business With

R 011911Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY BERN
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 5919
INFO AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM
DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC

2009-07-01 19:11:00 09BERN273 Embassy Bern SECRET 08BERN464 R 011911Z JUL 09\
FM AMEMBASSY BERN\
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 5919\
INFO AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM \
DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC\
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 \

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