VATICAN CITY
Boston Globe
By John L. Allen Jr. | GLOBE STAFF MAY 19, 2014
The Vatican released statistics today showing a dramatic spike in reports of suspect financial transactions in 2013, framing it not as a rise in illegal activity but as proof that new transparency mechanisms, intended to bring the Vatican in line with international best practices, are working.
According to the numbers presented today, there were 202 potentially suspect movements of money reported to Vatican regulators in 2013, as opposed to just six in 2012 and only one in 2011.
The data were presented in a news conference on Monday by René Bruelhart, a Swiss anti-money laundering expert who directs the Financial Information Authority, known by its Italian acronym “AIF,” which was created in 2010 under Pope Benedict XVI as a financial watchdog unit.
Bruelhart insisted that the primary reason for the increase in suspicious transaction reports is that “the system works,” reflecting new transparency requirements launched under Pope Benedict XVI and strengthened by Pope Francis.
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