Di Ruzza Named Head of Vatican’s Authority for Financial Information

By Andrea Gagliarducci
UCA News
January 22, 2015

http://www.ucanews.com/news/di-ruzza-named-head-of-vaticans-authority-for-financial-information/72838

Tommaso Di Ruzza was appointed Wednesday as the new director of the Vatican’s Authority for Financial Information, filling the post left vacant November 19, when the previous director, Rene Bruelhart, was made president of the Authority’s board of directors.

Di Ruzza's appointment indicates continuity in the advancement of financial reforms that have been carried on by the Vatican since 2009 under Benedict XVI.

A respected international juridical expert who studied at the universities of Siena, Rome, and Oxford, Di Ruzza has served as a juridical advisor to the Holy See since 2005.

After having served at the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Di Ruzza was entrusted with following the operational, juridical, and international issues of the Authority for Financial Information since its establishment in 2011.

In this capacity, Di Ruzza had a prominent role in the negotiations with the Council of Europe’s Moneyval committee regarding its 2012 evaluation of the Holy See's financial system.

Di Ruzza also negotiated in 2013 the inclusion of the Authority of Financial Information in the Egmont Group, which gathers the world's financial intelligence units, as well as the several memoranda of understanding the Authority has signed with its counterpart in several countries, the most noteworthy being those with the US, UK, Italy, and Germany.

Vatican insiders explained to CNA that Di Ruzza has been one of the main supporters of the Vatican's path toward reform and the consolidation of Holy See and Vatican City State anti- money laundering programs.

Di Ruzza’s appointment concludes the Authority's transition to a new governance.

The transition began after the new Vatican anti-money laundering law was issued in August 2013, and confirmed in October 2013 — a law that Di Ruzza had considerably contributed to drafting — and the consequent November 2013 issuance of the new statutes of the Authority for Financial Information.