Vatican Financial Watchdog Signs Information Sharing Deal With US Regulator

Stephen Little

2 July 2014

The Vatican’s Financial Intelligence Authority (AIF) has signed an agreement to exchange information with the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the US bank regulator, as part of its efforts to improve financial transparency following a series of corruption scandals.

The in recent years.

The Vatican has long faced questions over its accounts amid accusations of corruption and money laundering.

Bank president, Ernst von Freyberg, said last year that the institute needed to be a "well-respected member of the global financial community".

Over the past four years, the Vatican City State has continuously strengthened its laws and the regulatory framework under which it operates.

Last August, a new decree by Pope Francis gave the Vatican's internal watchdog increased powers over the Vatican Bank and its financial activities.

These measures tightened safeguards against money laundering, as well as improving internal regulations and establishing a new financial security committee to coordinate the anti-corruption effort.

In June 2013, senior cleric Nunzio Scarano was arrested with two others on suspicion of trying to illegally move €20 million into Italy from Switzerland.

Last October, the Vatican Bank published its first annual report in its 125-year history. The bank said in a statement that net profit for 2012 was €86.6 million ($117.1 million), up from €20.3 million in 2011.

The Vatican Bank, also known as the Institute for the Works of Religion, is a privately-held institute located inside Vatican City. Regarded as one of the most secretive banks in the world, it is run by an advisory board that reports directly to a committee of cardinals and the Pope.