Expert to help Holy See strengthen its commitment to fight money laundering

(Vatican Radio) Following the Moneyval report on the Vatican and the Holy See, which received extensive coverage during the month of July, the time is ripe, not for a slackening of commitment, but for renewed efforts to respond to the Report’s recommendations and ever more efficaciously pursue transparency and financial trustworthiness, thus contributing more effectively to the fight against money-laundering. Listen:

According to Fr Federico Lombardi SJ, a powerful sign of its commitment to work in this direction, is that the Holy See has hired an international expert in Anti-Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) activities.

Rene Bruelhart, 40, a lawyer originally from Fribourg, Switzerland, spent eight years as the director of Liechtenstein’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), and is an expert in AML/CFT. As director of Liechtenstein’s FIU, he was also appointed in 2010 as the vice-chair of the Egmont Group, the global network of FIUs.

Bruelhart began work this month as a consultant to the Holy See in all matters related to AML/CFT. His role is to assist the Holy See in strengthening its framework to fight financial crimes. This is based on the clear commitment the Holy See has already expressed in its active efforts to address these matters effectively.