BishopAccountability.org
	Pope Issues New Vatican Banking Rules to Combat Money-Laundering Monsters and Critics December 30, 2010 http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1608585.php/Pope-issues-new-Vatican-banking-rules-to-combat-money-laundering Vatican City - Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday issued new norms governing the Vatican's banking system, including placing it under a central authority to bring it in line with international measures to curb money-laundering and the financing of terrorism. The move comes amid a legal tussle between Italian authorities and the Vatican's bank, the Institute for Religious Works (IOR), over the possible violation of an anti-money laundering convention. The Vatican has repeatedly described as a 'misunderstanding' the decision by magistrates in Rome to confiscate some 23 million euros (30 million dollars) deposited from the IOR into an account of an Italian bank, and to place the IOR's two top managers under investigation. Benedict, in a letter announcing the new norms, said Thursday the Vatican wanted 'adopt as its own' regulations by the international community to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism as well as attempts to maker the international banking systems more transparent and accountable. 'In our time, in an increasingly globalised world, peace unfortunately, is threatened by various factors,' the pontiff wrote. These included 'the improper use of the market and the economy and that terrible and destructive violence that is perpetrated by terrorism, causing death, suffering, hatred and social instability,' Benedict added. The measures announced on Thursday also signal the Vatican's formal adoption of a 2009 monetary convention signed with the European Union to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism, Benedict said. Among the measures is the creation of a Vatican Authority for Financial information which will oversee all all transactions by Vatican-based bodies and institutions, including its bank, the IOR. The norms approved by Benedict also concern the prevention of fraud related to the and counterfeiting of euro banknotes and coins which are used by the Vatican as its unit of currency. European Commission Vice President Antonio Tajani welcomed the Vatican's new norms. 'They represent a strongly positive signal that will contribute to ensuring transparency in the markets and financial transactions,' he was quoted as saying by the ANSA newsagency. The IOR which handles accounts of religious orders and other Catholic associations using the offshore status of the Holy See, is not new to controversy. In 1982 it was embroiled in the collapse of an Italian bank, Banco Ambrosiano, of which it was the major shareholder. The IOR's then head, Archbishop Paul Marcinkus, was under consideration for indictment in 1982 in Italy as an accessory to the bankruptcy, but was protected by his diplomatic immunity as a Vatican prelate.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.