Vatican Says Financial Reform Report Due in December

The Asiaone
April 10, 2013

http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/World/Story/A1Story20130410-415047.html

This picture shows the headquarters of the Institute for Religious Works (IOR) the Vatican's bank on February 18, 2012 at The Vatican.

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican said Wednesday the next report by the Council of Europe on its efforts to bring its laws into line with international rules against money laundering is due out in December.

The progress report by the Moneyval monitoring committee will also look at the Vatican's implementation of all recommendations, not just the "key recommendations" in its July 2012 report.

The Vatican last year promised to redouble its efforts to reform its scandal-plagued bank and overhaul financial legislation following an Italian inquiry into alleged money laundering.

In that report, the Vatican scored satisfactory ratings in nine out of 16 key recommendations and unsatisfactory ratings in the remaining seven.

The report stressed in particular the importance of independent supervision of the Vatican's bank, the Institute for Religious Works or IOR.

The Vatican bank has a troubled history including in the 1970s and 1980s when it was accused of helping to launder money for the Sicilian mafia.

After Italian prosecutors launched another inquiry in 2011, then pope Benedict XVI created a new financial authority to reform the bank.

The authority aims to put the Vatican on a "white list" of countries that cooperate with efforts against money laundering drawn up by the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).