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A Swiss banking group’s agreement to process bank-card transactions at Vatican City locations has broken a stalemate that reportedly cost the city state $NZ47,000 a day.
Vatican City officials were caught off guard by the bank-card freeze caused by a January 1 announcement that Italy’s central bank would no longer process electronic payments from the Vatican.
Italian banking officials claimed that the Vatican had failed to meet new European Union standards to prevent money laundering.
Vatican spokesman Father Frederico Lombardi announced on February 12 that the Swiss group Aduno had undertaken to manage electronic payments services.
Electronic payment services are used by millions of tourists and pilgrims visiting the Vatican Museums, post office and shops, so the freeze on bank-card and ATM transactions cut severely into sales.
The Vatican’s top consultant for banking security, Rene Bruelhart, expressed surprise at the move by Italian banking officials, pointing out that the Vatican received a “good” evaluation from European banking examiners last July.
Other European countries had expressed no major concerns about Vatican banking practices since the adoption of new security measures last year.
The apparent tipping point that triggered the action was a Rome prosecutor’s investigation of possible money laundering in 2010 at the Vatican’s bank, also known as the Institute for Religious Works.
The audit by European banking examiners last July followed a request by the Holy See for an evaluation of its financial control systems and safeguards against criminal activity.
While the Holy See passed 9 of the 16 key tests — putting it in the same league as countries that have been working for years on their financial transparency — the inspectors called for improvement in several areas.
The financial transparency audit was most critical of the Vatican’s new financial oversight agency, the Financial Information Authority.
The inspectors said it did not appear to have the authority and resources necessary to maintain adequate oversight of the Vatican’s financial activities.
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Image: Gulf News
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