VZCZCXRO1226
PP RUEHCN RUEHGH
DE RUEHHK #3655 2560350
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 130350Z SEP 06
FM AMCONSUL HONG KONG
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8573
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 9380
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 2710
RUEHGP/AMEMBASSY SINGAPORE 3115
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 4277
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 0906
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 0044
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 3383
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 4077
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L HONG KONG 003655 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NOFORN 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/CM, EAP/K, EB/ESC/TFS, EB/IDF/OMA 
TREASURY FOR FINCEN, DGLASER, WNEWCOMB, SLEVEY, RDOHNER, 
LMOHTADER, ASHARMA 
JUSTICE FOR OAI, AFLMS, AND NDDS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: AFTER KOREAN REUNIFICATION 
TAGS: ECON EFIN HK KJUS KN MC PREL
SUBJECT: MACAU OFFICIALS LOOKING FOR RESOLUTION IN BDA CASE 
 
Classified By: Consul General James Cunningham.  Reasons: 
1.4 (b,d,e). 
 
 
¶1.  (C) Macau's Chief Executive Edmund Ho and the PRC's 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Commissioner in Macau Wan 
Yongxiang told CG James Cunningham in separate meetings on 
September 5 that they hoped the Banco Delta Asia (BDA) case 
would be resolved quickly.  Noting that Macau's 
administration of BDA was nearing the one-year mark, Ho 
told Cunningham that Macau would extend its administration 
of BDA for another six months; he hoped that USG and Macau 
authorities would be able to resolve the case within that 
time.  Wan noted that the U.S. Treasury Department 
designated BDA in Macau as a "primary money laundering 
concern" a year ago, but asserted that the Macau government 
had not found evidence of money laundering activities.  Wan 
stressed that Macau and the USG officials should continue 
to work seriously to resolve this issue as it is linked to 
the suspension of the Six Party Talks. 
 
¶2.  (C) Cunningham thanked both officials for Macau's 
continued cooperation in the BDA case and stated that the 
U.S. Consulate Hong Kong and the U.S. Treasury Department 
would continue to work very seriously with Macau 
authorities to resolve the issues in the case.  Cunningham 
thanked Ho for turning over the latest batch of documents 
that Treasury investigators had requested.  He told Ho 
that the investigators had finished the document scanning 
process during the week of September 5 and would begin 
analyzing the BDA documents and data.  Cunningham told 
Wan that U.S. and PRC officials had discussed in Beijing 
the need to deal with financial issues in Macau. 
 
¶3.  (U) Cunningham commended Macau for passing Anti-Money 
Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing laws in March of 
2006 but emphasized that implementation would be the key in 
moving forward.  The United States stands ready to assist 
Macau improve its capacity to implement money laundering 
and counterterrorism finance measures, including by 
continuing to provide training and exchange programs. 
Cunningham noted that U.S. officials look forward to 
working with Deborah Ng, the head of Macau's recently 
established Financial Investigation Unit. 
 
¶4.  (U) Cunningham told both Ho and Wan that the September 
5 opening of the Wynn Macau Resort provided an example of 
the increasing U.S. investment that would be moving into 
Macau.  An open, transparent financial regulatory regime 
would be essential to encourage both local and 
international investment in Macau, Cunningham told Ho and 
Wan. 
Cunningham