Vatican City, 30 June 2014 (VIS) –
The Autorità Informazione Finanziaria (AIF), the Financial
Intelligence Authority of the Holy See and Vatican City State, has
signed an agreement to exchange information with the US Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).
This Information Sharing Exchange of
Letters is the first bilateral agreement of AIF in its role as
Financial Supervisor and Regulator within the Holy See and Vatican
City State. It represents a significant strengthening of
international cooperation between the Holy See and the United States
of America.
“This is a further step in Holy See’s
efforts towards perfecting a system of financial regulation and part
of our commitment to transparency and international cooperation,”
said Rene Bruelhart, the Director of AIF. “The Holy See is part of
the global family of well-regulated jurisdictions and the signing of
this agreement reflects that very clearly.”
The agreement with the OCC follows the
passing of the new law regarding financial activities in the Holy
See, Law XVIII, in October 2013 and the enactment of AIF’s new
statute in November 2013, which introduced a new supervisory function
as part of AIF’s mandate.
AIF expects further bilateral
agreements with financial supervisors and regulators of other
countries to follow in due course, and continues in its efforts to
strengthen its own regulatory infrastructure in fostering
international cooperation.
The OCC is an independent authority
within the Treasury Department of the United States and serves to
charter, regulate and supervise all national banks and the federal
branches and agencies of foreign banks in the United States.
AIF is the competent authority of the
Holy See and Vatican City State to fight money laundering and the
financing of terrorism. According to its mandate, AIF has a double
role and acts both as Financial Supervisor and Regulator as well as
Financial Intelligence Unit. In its function as Financial
Intelligence Unit, AIF became a member of the Egmont Group in July
2013, and has already signed MOUs with the Financial Intelligence
Units of more than a dozen countries, including the U.K., the United
States, France, Spain, Italy and Germany. It was established in 2010
and became operational in 2011.
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