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### Viewing cable 10LISBON66, PORTUGAL: ACTION REQUEST FOR GUIDANCE ON PROPOSAL

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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
10LISBON66 | 2010-02-12 13:01 | 2010-12-12 21:09 | CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN | Embassy Lisbon

`

    VZCZCXRO2776
    RR RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSL RUEHSR
    DE RUEHLI #0066/01 0431315
    ZNY CCCCC ZZH
    R 121315Z FEB 10 ZDK
    FM AMEMBASSY LISBON
    TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8115
    INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
    RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 0410
    RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
    RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
    RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC

` `

    C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 LISBON 000066

    NOFORN
    SIPDIS

    TREASURY FOR OFAC
    DEPT FOR IO/PSC AND EEB/ESC
    DEPT ALSO FOR NEA/IR

    E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/11/2020
    TAGS: PINR ECON EFIN EUN PGOV PREL IR PO
    SUBJECT: PORTUGAL: ACTION REQUEST FOR GUIDANCE ON PROPOSAL
    TO ESTABLISH BANKING RELATIONSHIP WITH IRAN

    REF: A. LISBON 52
    ¶B. 09 LISBON 146

    Classified By: XXXXXXXXXXXX  for reasons 1.4(b,d).

    ¶1. (U) This is an action request. See para 12.

    ¶2. (C/NF) Summary: In April 2009, officials of Millennium
    BCP, Portugal's leading private bank, visited Iran at the
    invitation of the Iranian Embassy in Lisbon and met with the
    Central Bank and other entities in the financial sector to
    discuss Iran's interest in establishing a business
    relationship with Millennium. On February 5, Millennium
    Executive Board Chairman Carlos Santos Ferreira discussed the
    proposal with Poleconoff and its possible benefit to the USG.
    While he claimed that the costs could outweigh the benefits
    to Millennium, Ferreira is willing to establish a
    relationship with Iran to help the USG track Iranian assets
    and financial activities. Millennium has consulted with the
    Bank of Portugal and senior government officials, and would
    like our views on its proposed relationship with Iran and
    Washington's interest in tracking Iranian accounts in
    Portugal. We request Washington guidance; our recommendation
    is that Millennium not pursue the relationship. However,
    given that Ferreira may do so regardless of USG
    recommendations, it might be prudent to maintain open
    channels of communication with Ferreira. Post will track
    developments and discourage deeper relations with Iran. (See
    para 12.) End Summary.

    ¶3. (C/NF) On February 5, Poleconoff met with Carlos Santos
    Ferreira, Chairman of the Executive Board of Millennium BCP
    (formerly the Portuguese Commercial Bank), at the request of
    Ferreira's advisor who is a longtime contact of the Embassy.
    Ferreira discussed a proposal by the Iranian banking sector
    to establish a relationship with Millennium to further trade
    and commercial opportunities. He noted that Iran has other
    options in Europe but may be interested in Portugal for its
    less restrictive regulatory environment. (Iran already has
    relations with various European banks, including HSBC,
    Deutsche Bank, Danske, and Banque Commercial de Placement.)
    Ferreira insisted that while the costs of the Iranian
    proposal could outweigh the benefits to Millennium, the bank
    would be open to establishing a relationship with Iran in
    order to help the USG track the financial activities of the
    Iranian government.

    ¶4. (C/NF) Early last year, the Iranian Embassy in Lisbon
    contacted Ferreira, who had previous contact with that
    embassy while serving as Chairman of the Board of Directors
    of Oeiras Foundation (1987-1989), a state entity that he says
    sold munitions to Iran more than 20 years ago. Millennium
    Bank advised Prime Minister Socrates and senior government
    officials, including the governor of the Bank of Portugal
    (Portugal's central bank), of Iran's interest in establishing
    a relationship with Millennium and having Millennium
    officials visit Iran for meetings.

    ¶5. (C/NF) In April 2009, a few weeks after Portuguese MFA
    Political Director Nuno Brito was in Tehran (Ref B), two
    Millennium officials -- Jose Joao Guilherme, member of the
    Executive Board of Directors who is responsible for the
    bank's international portfolio, and Duarte Pitta Ferraz, Head
    of the International Affairs Unit -- visited Iran for five
    days at the invitation of the Iranian Embassy in Lisbon.
    They met with senior representatives of the Central Bank,
    seven banks (including three private banks), the Organization
    for Investment, Economic, and Technical Assistance of Iran
    (OIETAI), and the Portuguese Embassy to discuss EU
    restrictions on Iran and potential business opportunities
    within those constraints. The banks expressed interest in
    establishing relations with Millennium in the traditional
    areas of trade and finance.

    ¶6. (C/NF) Based on the meetings and information provided by
    officials of the Iranian Central Bank and the Iranian
    Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, Millennium selected
    four priority banks for further consideration: the Export
    Development Bank of Iran (EDBI), Bank Tejarat, Bank Parsian,
    and EN Bank, which have SWIFT codes. The EU is currently
    restricted by UN sanctions from doing business with Melli
    Iran Bank and Saderat Iran Bank. According to Millennium
    officials, no other Iranian bank is subject to UN sanctions.

    LISBON 00000066 002 OF 003

    In 2008 Iranian deposits in European banks totaled USD 46.7
    billion, while foreign deposits in Iran decreased by USD 2.5
    billion. France maintained a significant account, with USD
    5.4 billion in Iranian banks. Iranian exports totaled USD
    106 billion (80 percent from oil), while imports totaled U=H.QAfrica, and the Middle East.
    According to the report, EDBI told Millennium officials that
    Brazil is not overly concerned about respecting international
    sanctions since "independent countries can make independent
    decisions." (PROTECT)

    ¶8. (C/NF) Portugal has very few Iranian residents and very
    little trade with Iran. Portugal's trade with Iran totals
    less than 40 million euros per year, while Iranian oil
    represents about 9 percent of Portugal's oil imports. In
    January 2010, Brito told Under Secretary of State Burns that
    Portugal had no intention of furthering its economic
    relationship with Iran at this time. However, Portugal is
    keeping its options open for future investments (Ref A).

    ¶9. (C/NF) Millennium anticipates engaging in the following
    activities, which Ferreira insists are in compliance with EU
    banking laws and regulations and UN sanctions, if it were to
    agree to establish a relationsh/MQQ7#^QQQare not currently on any sanctions list and
    in accordance with the condition above; (3) undertake
    transactions on behalf of Iranian credit institutions with
    additional monitoring and oversight mechanisms to prevent
    money laundering and terrorism finance; and (4) continue to
    conduct, on a case-by-case basis, operations of support to
    client companies that export to Iran.

    ¶10. (U) Millennium BCP is Portugal's leading private
    financial group and among the top 100 in the world, with
    listings on more than 40 national and international stock
    markets. It ranks second in Portugal in terms of market
    share, credit, and client assets. (As of December 2008, it
    had 2.6 million clients and an estimated 22 percent market
    share.) Founded in 1985 as the Portuguese Commercial Bank,
    it now boasts the largest presence in Portugal with 918
    branches nationwide. It also has branches in the U.S.,
    Europe and Africa, including Poland, Greece, Mozambique,
    Angola, Romania, Switzerland, and Turkey. The Embassy has
    been a Millennium client since 1997. Despite the financial
    crisis and the weak Portuguese economy, the bank reported a
    201 million euro profit in 2008. On February 10, it reported
    a 12-percent increase in net profit in 2009, with 225 million
    euros, helped by the sale of a nearly 50 percent stake in its
    Angolan subsidiary. The GOP's state-run Caixa Geral de
    Depositos has a small stake (2.5 percent as of June 2009) in
    Millennium. A suspended member of the Millennium Executive
    Board of Directors is under investigation, along with other
    Portuguese political and business figures, for allegations of
    corruption and influence peddling in a private business deal,
    which does not involve the bank.

    ¶11. (U) Carlos Ferreira, Chairman of the Executive Board of
    Directors of Millennium since January 2008, has extensive
    experience in the banking industry. Previously, he served as
    Chairman of the Board of Caixa Geral de Depositos, Chairman
    of Caixa - Banco de Investimento, Chairman of Caixa Seguros,
    and Member of the Board of the Steering and Strategy
    Committee of Foment Invest, among other positions. He also
    served as Member of Parliament for the Socialist Party and
    Vice Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Security and
    Health (1976-1977), member of the management board of
    state-owned Airports and Aerial Navigation (ANA), member of
    the Tax Reform Commission, and Chairman of the Board of
    Directors of the Macau Airport Company. Born in Lisbon in
    1949, Ferreira earned a law degree in 1971 from the Faculty
    of Law of Classical University of Lisbon and subsequently
    taught at his alma mater, as well as at the Faculty of Law at
    Portugal's Catholic University and the Faculty of Economics

    LISBON 00000066 003 OF 003

    at the New University of Lisbon (1977-1988). He is a close
    contact of the Embassy and an influential member of the
    Portuguese banking sector. His son will soon be moving to
    New York to work for Deloitte Touche.

    ¶12. (C/NF) POST RECOMMENDATION/GUIDANCE REQUEST: Ferreira
    told us he would be willing to allow the USG to monitor the
    Iranian accounts in Millennium in a manner to be mutually
    agreed upon, and he seeks our views on such an arrangement.
    Post recommendation is that our basic response to Ferreira be
    that Millennium not pursue any relationship with any Iranian
    entities. However, it is quite possible that Millennium will
    pursue the relationship regardless of USG recommendations.
    Therefore, post recommends that we maintain open channels of
    communication with Ferreira in order to maintain some
    visibility on the Iranian accounts should Millennium go ahead
    and set them up. Post requests Washington guidance in
    responding to Ferreira's proposal, as well as views on
    Millennium's proposed relationship with Iran. While Ferreira
    did not explicitly say so, post believes that the Portuguese
    MFA is, at a minimum, aware of his approach to the Embassy.
    Ferreira is open to further communication with post should
    Washington need more information. Embassy ORA has cleared
    this cable.

    For more reporting from Embassy Lisbon and information about Portugal,
    please see our Intelink site:

    http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/portal:port ugal
    BALLARD

`