VATICAN CITY
Reuters
Thu Mar 8, 2012 11:51am EST
* Vatican added for first time to State Department list
* Washington puts tiny state in less vulnerable list
* Vatican tries to join Europe’s ‘White List’
By Philip Pullella
VATICAN CITY, March 8 (Reuters) – The Vatican has for the first time appeared on the U.S. State Department’s list of money-laundering centres but the tiny city-state is not rated as a high-risk country.
The 2012 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report was made public on Wednesday and Washington’s list of 190 countries classifies them in three categories: of primary concern, of concern and monitored.
The Vatican is in the second category, grouped with 67 other nations including Poland, Egypt, Ireland, Hungary and Chile.
It was added to the list because it was considered vulnerable to money-laundering and had recently established programmes to prevent it, a State Department official said.
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