Financial regulator says Vatican bank needs more reform

VATICAN CITY
Economic Times

Reuters

VATICAN CITY: The Vatican bank has made good progress in transparency but needs more changes to consolidate anti-money laundering reforms, the Holy See’s financial regulator said on Friday.

The Financial Intelligence Authority’s (AIF) also said in its annual report for 2014 that it had forwarded seven cases of suspected fraud or tax avoidance to the Vatican prosecutor’s office for further investigation.

It said the number of reports it had received of potentially suspicious financial activity fell to 147 last year, down from a peak of 202 in 2013, which officials said showed that reforms and reporting procedures were working.

The Vatican bank, seeking to repair its image after a series of financial scandals, has been undergoing massive reforms over the past three years.

The bank, formally known as the Institute for Religious Works (IOR), has toughened regulatory standards and closed thousands of accounts.

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