Vatican City, Jul 4, 2013 / 09:38 am
News that Vatican Financial Intelligence Authority (AIF) has been admitted to a global network of financial oversight agencies proves that the Vatican is threading an international and multilateral path to adhere to international standards.
It "represents a recognition of the Holy See/Vatican City State's systematic efforts in tracking and fighting money laundering and financing of terrorism," said René Bruelhart, director of the Authority of Financial Information, in a July 3 statement.
The news of admission to the Egmont Group, an umbrella organization for 130 Financial Intelligence Units, became official just days after the unexpected resignations of the Vatican bank's general director Paolo Cipriani and his deputy Massimo Tulli, who stepped down on July 1.
Cipriani and Tulli's sudden exit came on the heels of the recent arrest of Msgr. Nunzio Scarano, an employee of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See. He allegedly used his account at the Institute for Religious Works, the so-called "Vatican bank," for money laundering.