I find it strange that the following communique has been published so far only in the Italian service online of Vatican Radio...
New Vatican visit by Moneyval:
Decision expected in July
Translated from the Italian service of
March 17, 2012
In the framework of the active collaboration undertaken by the Holy See with Moneyval (the division of the Council of Europe that evaluates anti-money laundering systems of its member countries), some meetings of a technical nature took place at the Vatican from March 14-16, according to a communique from the Holy See Press Office.
The meetings - previously agreed upon in consideration of the specific character of the Holy See and Vatican City-State, as well as by the fact that this would be the first evaluation of the (anti-money laundering) provisions in new Vatican laws - allowed the presentation of information about the steps taken by the Vatican to be in conformity with international standards on the prevention and fight against money laundering and the funding of terrorism, such as the adoption of Decree No, CLIX dated January 25, 2012, that replaced Law No. CXXVII of December 30, 2010, as well as the ratification and adherence of the Vatican to some international conventions on this subject.
The communique goes on to say that as in the first meetings held during a Vatican visit of Moneyval representatives in November 2011, they met with represenatives of competent financial authorities of the Holy See and Vatican City state.
This phase will lead to a report which, as previously announced, will be reviewed by the plenary assembly of Moneyval when it meets in July.
VATICAN INSIDER has this report, worthy of AP and Reuters at their snarkiest. I really don't understand why the reporter takes a disparaging tone. It's not as if this process has been going on forever. January to July 2012 is not an unreasonable for a report to be prepared, and Moneyval will certainly not convoke its annual plenary assembly earlier just to consider the Vatican situation! :
The 'long march' towards the White List
Moneyval inspectors at the Vatican to gather data
about a new law introduced in January.
But no decision is expected till July
by Alessasndro Speciale
Translated from the Italian service of
March 17, 2012
Grey smoke so far for the Holy See's acceptance into the White List of nations meeting international financial standards for tansparency, and measures against money laundering and funding of terrorism. [The 'grey smoke' metaphor refers to the continuing failure of a conclave to elect a Pope. Using it for this situation is totally uncalled for! There is no failure here - only a procedural period before a decision can be reached, with the timing dependent upon the annual date of Moneyval's plenary session! It's just offensive when Vaticanistas think they ought to adopt a critical, if not accusatory, tone towards the Vatican, even in situations where it is not warranted at all!]]
The recent visit by the inspectors of Moneyval lasted three days, during which, according to the Holy See communique, they looked into "the steps taken by the Vatican to be in conformity with international standards on the prevention and fight against money laundering and the funding of terrorism".
The Authority for Financial Information, the IOR, the Prerecture of Economic Affairs, the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See, and the Governatorate were among the Vatican institutions that took part in meetings with the Moneyval representatives.
The evaluation focused on two elements: "Decree No, CLIX dated January 25, 2012, that replaced Law No. CXXVII of December 30, 2010, as well as the ratification and adherence of the Vatican to some international conventions on this subject".
It is the first point about which the Vatican is 'holding its breath'. The decree, which profoundly modifies the fundamental law - was discussed in a couple of documents that were part of the recent 'Vatileaks' which indicated that there were differences in opinion among some Curial officials involved as to which line to take
[The exchanges took place before the decree was adopted in January 2012].
In February, we summarized the provisions of that decree here at
Vatican Insider, as follows:
With respect to the earlier law, the role of the Secretariat of State is greater, as well as that of the Vatican Police and APSA.
Whereas the 2010 law did not indicate the subjects (entities), but rather the activities, that fall under this law, the new decree lists those various eubjects as well. It would precisely be the distribution of anti-money laundering tasks among these various entities that would bring the Vatican law in conformity with international standards.
However, this does not mean that the AIF shall be placed under the 'control' of the Secretariat of State which shall have a 'political' role of protection - for example, in giving a 'nulla osta' [nothing stands in the way of...] on the transparency agreements between AIF and other similar entities in other European states.
Indeed, the AIF will continue to have absolute autonomy in gathering and analyzing data on suspicious financial activities [within any of the various Vatican agencies, including the Secretariat of State].
Decree CLIX also addresses the controversial question of the law's retroactivity. It obliges the Vatican to open the archives for inspection [by European authorities] of institutions like IOR, which has been the subject in past decades of many inquiries and scandals.
The Moneyval inspectors have only been gathering data and taking notes so far, and have not made any evaluations. [DUH! It was an inspection. Inspectors don't generally announce their findings and evaluation at the end of a visit, especially when the subject matter is technical.]
Not accidentally, the Vatican communique underscores that the meetings were of a technical nature held among experts, and that the inspectors must now prepare a report on which the plenary assembly of Moneyval can make a decision when it meets in July.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 18/03/2012 12:50]