Vatican
City, 22 May 2013
(VIS) – This afternoon in the Press Office of the Holy See, Rene
Brulhart, director of the Vatican Financial Information Authority
(L’Autorità di Informazione Finanziara, AIF), presented the AIF's
first annual report, which examines their activities and statistics
from 2012. The AIF is the competent authority of the Holy See and the
Vatican City State for financial intelligence and for supervision and
regulation in the prevention and countering of money laundering and
financing of terrorism. It was established in 2010 and became
operational in April of 2011.
“Over
the course of the year,” reads a press release accompanying the
conference, “AIF reported the submission of six Suspicious
Transaction Reports, up from only one in the previous year. AIF
itself forwarded two Suspicious Transaction Reports to the Vatican
Promoter of Justice for further investigation.”
"The
statistics and trends from 2012 are encouraging and indicates that
the system is consistently improving," said Dr. Brulhart. In
2012, AIF also initiated the systematic screening and analysis of
Cash Transaction Reports submitted by the obliged entities.
“In
our efforts to actively tackle any potential abuse of the financial
system,” continued Director Brulhart, “we initiated a close and
constructive interaction with the Secretariat of State, the
Gendarmeria, the Promoter of Justice and the institutions under our
oversight in order to improve awareness and safety and ensure a
coordinated internal cooperation in AML/CFT matters.”
A
further important element of the report is the progress made in
international cooperation that builds on the clear commitment of the
Holy See to be a credible partner in the international fight against
money laundering. 2012 saw the signing of a Memorandum of
Understanding with relevant authorities in Belgium and Spain. Dr.
Brulhart stated that “it will continue to be our policy in 2013 to
further strengthening international cooperation by signing several
more Memorandum of Understanding with our partners in other relevant
countries and jurisdictions.”
The
outlook for 2013 foresees a further strengthening of the AML/CFT
system including the implementation of Moneyval Recommendations
through appropriate new or amended legislation and a continuation of
the awareness enhancing process across all relevant authorities and
institutions.
The
full-year report is available at:
http://attualita.vatican.va/sala-stampa/bollettino/2013/05/22/news/31044.html.
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