Vatican bank's suspicious transactions jump in 2013
May 19, 2014 - The Vatican has seen a spike in the number of suspicious financial
transactions being reported as its bank, the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR)
goes through its books to review accounts. The Vatican's financial watchdog agency
released its annual report Monday. The report showed that there were 202 suspicious
transactions reported to the Financial Information Authority in 2013 compared with
only six a year earlier and just one in 2011. Five of those 202 were referred onto
Vatican prosecutors for possible investigation. Authority Director Rene Bruelhart
said the spike doesn't mean that more illicit activity is taking place. He said it
just means that new laws and procedures are being implemented and are working to flag
potentially problematic transactions that may require further investigation. (Source:
AP)