VATICAN CITY
Toronto Sun

Philip Pullella, REUTERS

First posted: Sunday, July 15, 2012

VATICAN CITY – A European report on efforts by the Vatican to embrace financial transparency after a series of scandals involving its bank will laud recent reforms but also underscore what remains to be done to reach international standards in all areas.

According to people familiar with the still-secret report, due to be issued on Wednesday by a department of the Council of Europe, the eagerly anticipated evaluation will give the Vatican an overall passing grade in key areas but criticize others.

The report is by Moneyval, “The Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism”, which is the Council’s monitoring mechanism that ensures that member states comply with international financial standards.

The external evaluation and recommendations are a milestone for the Vatican, which has been trying to shed…