The Council of Europe’s anti-money laundering inspectorate, Moneyval, has ended more than a decade of special measures and inspections over Vatican institutions, upgrading the Holy See to the watchdog’s ordinary process of assessments and evaluation to “regular” status.
The move comes after Moneyval offered a broadly positive assessment of financial security progress made at the Vatican over the last 12 years.
In 2009 The Holy See signed up to the European Monetary Convention, aiming to bring its financial institutions in line with international standards after years of financial scandals and for the last decade the Vatican has been working towards financial reform.
The last scheduled on-site inspections came in October 202 and Moneyval’s latest report.
The newest report, released this month, emphasized, “the Holy See (including the Vatican City State) will be subject to MONEYVAL’s regular follow-up reporting process as a result of the positive report.”
“With regard to preventative measures, Moneyval underlines that the sole authorised institution [the Vatican Bank or IOR] has a sound understanding of its money laundering and financing of terrorism risks,” the watchdog said.
However, the Moneyval annual report also flagged concerns about staffing and funding for financial security operations which it said delays Vatican money laundering investigations. Read More