Pope Benedict Commits Vatican to Upholding European Money-Laundering Laws
The Vatican expressed “surprise” after Italian finance police froze 23 million euros ($30 million) from an account registered to the Vatican Bank. Photographer: Chris Warde-Jones/Bloomberg
Pope Benedict XVI committed the
Vatican to upholding European Union rules against money
laundering and financial fraud amid an Italian probe into the
Holy See’s banking operations.
In an apostolic letter published today on the Vatican’s
website, the pope said a special Vatican authority will begin
work in January to implement legislation enforcing the European
laws. The move comes amid a money-laundering probe by Rome
prosecutors into the Vatican Bank and its top two executives.
“Following the Monetary Convention signed by the State of
Vatican City with the European Commission Dec. 17, 2009, I have
approved the issue of the Law concerning the prevention and
countering of laundering of proceeds from criminal activities
and of the financing of terrorism,” Benedict said in the
letter.
A “Financial Information Authority” will oversee the
implementation of the new Vatican legislation, according to the
letter. Vatican judicial officials will be charged with
prosecuting any alleged violations of the new law, which will
take effect on April 1, according to the statement.
“The implementation of the new norms will certainly
require great commitment,” Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said in an e-mailed statement. “Vatican organizations
will be less vulnerable in the face of the continuous risks that
inevitably arise in the handling of money.”
Seized Funds
The Holy See is seeking to embrace greater financial
transparency after scandals involving the Vatican Bank, known as
the Institute for Religious Works, or IOR. It was implicated in
the fraudulent bankruptcy of Banco Ambrosiano in 1982. Italian
prosecutors in September seized 23 million euros ($30.5 million)
from a Rome bank account registered to the IOR amid suspicions
of money-laundering violations.
A Rome magistrate upheld the seizure of the funds in a Credito Artigiano SpA account, Ansa newswire reported on Dec 20.
Vatican bank executives have denied any wrongdoing.
“These new laws are part of the Apostolic See’s efforts to
build a just and honest social order,” the Secretariat of
State, which oversees the Vatican’s diplomatic affairs, said
today in a statement.
‘Fully Committed’
The Holy See is “fully committed” to putting relevant EU
financial legislation into effect by the end of 2010, Amadeu Altafaj, spokesman for EU Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn, said in an October interview in Brussels.
The Vatican is a sovereign city-state outside EU
jurisdiction, though surrounded by Italian territory. The Holy
See comprises the institutions, many located within Vatican
City, that manage the Roman Catholic Church’s global affairs.
The new authority will be “the contact point” for the EU
and international organizations active in combating money
laundering, such as the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force,
Altafaj said in October.
The Vatican said in September that it’s in talks with the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development about
getting on the Paris-based group’s so-called White List of
nations that comply with global norms on financial transparency.
To contact the reporters on this story:
Lorenzo Totaro in Rome at
ltotaro@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
John Fraher at jfraher@bloomberg.net;
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