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TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5356
INFO RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS 4225
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 1903
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID 5616
RUEHNK/AMEMBASSY NOUAKCHOTT 3366
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS 9136
RUEHCL/AMCONSUL CASABLANCA 2444
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC

UNCLAS RABAT 002241 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KTFN EFIN PTER PGOV MO
SUBJECT: ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING BILL INTRODUCED IN PARLIAMENT 
 
REF: A. RABAT 356 
 
     ¶B. RABAT 730 
 
This message is sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect 
accordingly. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Morocco's draft bill on anti-money 
laundering was formally presented to parliament by Justice 
Minister Bouzoubaa on November 20, and will be taken up by 
the chamber's Justice Committee the week of December 11.  Key 
parliamentarians predict passage of the measure, but are 
divided on whether this can occur in the current 
parliamentary session, which ends in mid-January.  If not, 
passage could slip to early summer, as parliament will not 
reconvene until April.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) With an increasing focus on corruption in government 
and business (a recent poll sponsored by Transparency 
International showed that 6 out of 10 Moroccans paid bribes 
to secure public services in the past year), government 
contacts portray the anti-money laundering law as part of a 
series of measures aimed at "moralizing public life."  Other 
laws in this group include bills to increase government 
transparency by requiring that government officials disclose 
their assets and a draft law on public tenders that seeks to 
make the process more open and less vulnerable to 
manipulation.  Banking regulators note too that the 
anti-money laundering draft also forms part of the effort to 
bring the overall financial system into line with 
international standards, following earlier laws that reformed 
the banking sector and granted independence to the Bank 
al-Maghrib. 
 
¶3. (U) The press has devoted extensive attention to the 
anti-laundering measure, noting that while the government 
originally hoped to secure its passage in 2005, 
inter-ministerial squabbling (reftels) postponed it by over a 
year.  They have focused on the increased vigilance that the 
law will require from banks (one senior banker in Casablanca 
jokingly told us "bankers will not be able to sleep after its 
passage" because of the added scrutiny it will require them 
to exercise).  More seriously, banking regulators note that 
while most banks already exercise this vigilance, the law 
will provide them with a legal framework in which to exercise 
it, while also ensuring that they operate on equal footing. 
 
¶4. (SBU) In meetings on November 30 and 31 with Econ 
Counselor, Mustapha Hanine, President of the Finance and 
Economic Development Committee of parliament's lower chamber, 
and Abdelkbir Tabih, President of that Chamber's Justice 
Committee, both predicted that the anti-money laundering 
measure would ultimately be passed by Parliament.  Tabih, 
whose committee will take up the bill the week of December 
11, was more nuanced on whether that could be accomplished in 
the current legislative session, however.  He noted the 
existence of widespread concerns among lawmakers about the 
impact of the bill on Morocco's large informal economy, which 
is variously estimated at up to 40 percent of Morocco's 
economic activity.  Hanine saw less of an issue with regard 
to the informal sector, and expressed confidence that with a 
proper push from the government the law can move swiftly. 
Both he and Tabih noted that Bouzoubaa and Finance Minister 
Oualalou are expected at the December 11 hearings, to 
emphasize the importance the Moroccan government attaches to 
the measure. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Comment: We continue to monitor the bill's progress 
and are weighing what further advocacy efforts can best 
contribute to its passage.  Given the press of legislative 
business, however, Tabih's prediction of April passage is 
more likely than passage before the current session ends in 
mid-January.  End Comment. 
****************************************** 
Visit Embassy Rabat's Classified Website; 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/rabat 
****************************************** 
 
Riley