Pope’s Motu Proprio for prevention of money laundering
08 July 2013: The Holy See Press Office has released a communiqué on the new Motu
proprio of Pope Francis concerning “the prevention and countering of money laundering,
the financing of terrorism, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.”
The Pope released the Motu Proprio on Thursday. A Motu Proprio, Latin for “of
his own accord” is a document issued by he Pope on his own initiative. A
communiqué of the Holy See Press Office explained that pursuant to the steps already
taken by Benedict XVI in this area with the Motu Proprio of 30 December 2010, for
preventing and countering illegal activities in the areas of finance and currency,
today’s Motu Proprio reaffirms the Holy See’s commitment to the goal of preventing
and countering money laundering, the financing of terrorism and the proliferation
of weapons of mass destruction. In particular, the present Motu Proprio broadens
the application of the relevant Vatican laws to the Dicasteries of the Roman Curia
and to other institutes and entities dependent on the Holy See, as well as to non-profit
organizations enjoying juridical personality in canon law and based in the Vatican
City State. It strengthens the supervisory and regulatory function of the Financial
Information Authority; establishes the function of prudential supervision over entities
habitually engaged in financial activities, in response to a recommendation of the
MONEYVAL Committee of the Council of Europe, and assigns that function to the Financial
Information Authority; it establishes the Financial Security Committee, whose Statutes
are appended to the Motu Proprio, for the purpose of coordinating the competent authorities
of the Holy See and the Vatican City State in the area of prevention and countering
of money laundering, the financing of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction.