VATICAN CITY
Washington Post
AP Interview: Vatican’s “007” on fighting money-laundering amid scandal at the Vatican bank
By Associated Press, Updated: Friday, July 5
VATICAN CITY — The revelations of wrongdoing currently rocking the Vatican bank couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Swiss-born anti-money laundering expert hired to lead the Holy See’s push for greater financial transparency.
Rene Bruelhart was heading to Sun City, South Africa, for the annual meeting of the Egmont Group, a gathering of financial information agencies from 130 countries, when the Vatican announced that its top two bank managers had resigned amid a blossoming financial scandal. The two executives were responsible for implementing the Vatican bank’s much-touted anti-money laundering efforts. But their resignations indicated — at the very least — that they hadn’t fully embraced the full scope of reform that was needed.
Despite latest news, the Holy See won a coveted membership in the Egmont Group on Wednesday, joining a club that aims to share financial information in the global fight against money laundering and terror financing.
For Bruelhart, dubbed the “James Bond of the financial world” by some media, joining Egmont meant that the Vatican now has more help in combating financial crimes — even if it can’t root them out entirely.
“With this membership, we are a credible player in the international and global fight against money laundering and terror finance,” Bruelhart said in a telephone interview Thursday from Sun City. “They trust us. That is very important.”
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