Vatican City, 29 May 2015 (VIS) – The
Autorità di Informazione Finanziaria (AIF) – Financial
Intelligence Authority – of the Holy See and the Vatican City State
has presented its Annual Report for 2014. The report reviews the
activities and statistics of the AIF for the year 2014.
2014 has seen a continuous
strengthening of the legal and institutional framework of the Holy
See and the Vatican City State to regulate supervised entities,
fostering international cooperation of the Vatican competent
authority with its foreign counterparts and to consolidate the
prevention and countering of potential illicit financial activities.
“With the introduction of Regulation
No. 1, we have completed the prudential supervisory framework of the
Holy See and Vatican City State,” said Rene Bruelhart, President of
AIF. “By signing Memoranda of Understandings (MOUs) with other
Financial Intelligence Units of 13 countries, including Australia,
France and the UK as well as with the Regulators of Germany,
Luxembourg and the United States of America, we have also massively
strengthened international cooperation.”
The reporting system has been
consolidated after having received 6 suspicious transaction reports
(STR) in 2012, 202 in 2013 and 147 in 2014. Such development is a
consequence both of the full implementation of the legal framework
and of the substantial improvement in the operational performance of
the supervised entities with regard to the prevention of financial
crime. 7 reports have been passed on to the Vatican Promoter of
Justice for further investigation by judicial authorities. The number
of cases of bilateral cooperation between AIF and foreign competent
authorities has increased from 4 in 2012 to 81 in 2013 and 113 in
2014. “This continuous increase is a result of the systematic
efforts undertaken by AIF as well as the strong commitment of the
Holy See and the Vatican City State to cooperate actively with other
jurisdictions to prevent and combat potential illicit financial
activities globally,” said Tommaso di Ruzza, Director of AIF.
Since 2012, the number of declarations
of outgoing cash above the amount of EUR 10,000 has steadily
decreased from 1,782 (2012) to 1,557 (2013) and 1,111 in 2014.
Declarations for incoming cash have also decreased from 598 (2012) to
550 (2013) and 429 in 2014. This is due to an increased monitoring by
the competent authorities and the introduction of reinforced
procedures at the supervised entities.
In the initial trimester of 2014, AIF
conducted the first ordinary on-site inspection of the IOR to verify
the implementation of the measures taken to prevent and counter money
laundering and the financing of terrorism pursuant to Law No. XVIII
of 8 October 2013. “The first on-site inspection of the IOR is an
important consequence and a concrete sign of the effectiveness of the
AML/CFT system adopted by the Holy See and the Vatican City State”,
said Tommaso Di Ruzza. “To follow closely the implementation of and
compliance with the new prudential regulatory framework by the
supervised entities will be one of the key tasks of AIF in the near
future”.
The inspection has shown no fundamental
shortcomings at the IOR. As a result of the inspection, AIF has
developed an action plan for the full and systematic adjustment of
existing procedures to the required standards in accordance with Law
No. XVIII.
Information on the AIF
The Financial Intelligence Authority is
the competent authority of the Holy See and the Vatican City State
for supervision and financial intelligence for the prevention and
countering of money-laundering and financing of terrorism.
Established by Pope Benedict XVI with
the Apostolic Letter in form of Motu Proprio of 30 December 2010, AIF
carries out its institutional activity according to the Statute
adopted by Pope Francis on 15 November 2013 and to Vatican City State
Law No. XVIII, of 8 October 2013, on transparency, supervision and
financial intelligence.
In 2014, AIF signed MOUs with
Argentina, Australia, Cyprus, France, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg,
Malta, Monaco, Peru, Poland, United Kingdom, Romania, San Marino and
Switzerland. In previous years, AIF had already signed MOUs with
Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain and the
United States of America. AIF is a member of the Egmont Group since
2013.
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