IOR 'operated in Italy unauthorized for 40 years'

Gazzetta del Sud
November 4, 2015

http://www.gazzettadelsud.it/news/english/165316/IOR--operated-in-Italy-unauthorized-for-40-years---2-.html

Rome, November 4 - The Vatican Bank, or Institute for Religious Works (IOR), operated in Italy without authorization for 40 years, Rome prosecutors said Wednesday. The city prosecutor is about to notify ex-IOR general manager Paolo Cipriani and his former deputy Massimo Tulli that a probe into alleged wrongdoing at the Vatican bank has ended, a possible prelude to their indictment. Cipriani and Tulli were indicted in a separate case a year ago on money laundering charges after a probe that in 2010 led to the freezing of 23 million euros over two cash transfers involving IOR that were deemed suspicious. That trial is ongoing. On Wednesday, investigators said IOR acted as a bank without central bank authorization until 2011, when the Bank of Italy told credit institutions to consider it a non-EU bank. At that point, IOR most of its banking activities to Germany. However, Italian banks effectively stopped dealing with the IOR in 2010 after the Bank of Italy ordered them to enforce strict anti-money laundering criteria to continue working with it. From January 1 to February 12, 2013, the Bank of Italy froze all credit card and ATM transactions inside the Vatican City over its failure to fully implement international anti-money laundering standards. The Council of Europe's Moneyval agency, a monitoring group of financial experts, earlier this year praised the Vatican's progress in trying to get onto the white list of countries with strong credentials on combatting financial crime. In January 2014, the Vatican Bank resumed normal relations with Italy after implementing moves to prevent money laundering and other financial crimes.