European body adopts money-laundering report on Vatican

(July 05, 2012) A European body that monitors money-laundering adopted an evaluation report on the Vatican on Wednesday which the Holy See hopes will help it shore up the reputation of its bank in the wake of an investigation by Italian magistrates. As is the practice, Moneyval, the Council of Europe department that evaluates how effectively member states are fighting money-laundering, gives members a month’s time to check the accuracy of the report before it is made public. The first evaluation report on the Vatican Bank, officially known as the Institute for Works of Religion, was adopted during Moneyval’s July 2 – 6 plenary meeting in Strasbourg, France. The Vatican has been trying to join a so-called "white list" of states that comply with Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development standards on financial transparency. The Moneyval report, based on consultations and meetings with inspectors, is expected to be a key step along the way. The Vatican bank has been in turmoil since May 24 when its president Ettore Gotti Tedeschi was dismissed by the board. Under his leadership, Rome magistrates had frozen €23 million which the Vatican held in two Italian banks. The Vatican denied wrong-doing saying it had been merely carrying out "normal operations" by transferring its own funds between its own accounts in Italy and Germany. The money was released in June 2011, but the investigation continues.