VATICAN CITY – The Vatican’s financial watchdog agency says “corrective measures” are needed at the Holy See’s troubled bank to continue the path toward financial transparency and compliance with international anti-money laundering norms.
Financial Intelligence Authority Director Rene Bruelhart said a long-awaited investigation of the bank, known as the Institute for Religious Works, included looking into its practice of not disclosing the names of the true account holders in its transactions with Italian banks.
Bruelhart spoke to reporters after his annual report showed a spike in the number of suspicious financial transactions being reported last year: 202 in 2013 compared with only six a year earlier and just one in 2011. Five of those 202 were referred to Vatican prosecutors for possible investigation.
Bruelhart stressed that the spike didn’t mean that more illicit activity took place last year, just that new laws and procedures put in place in 2013 were working to flag potentially problematic transactions that may be innocent or may require further investigation.