On Wednesday, December 6, 2017, the Plenary Meeting of MONEYVAL (the “Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism”) approved the Third Progress Report of the Holy See/Vatican City State.
This latest Progress Report, which follows on the Mutual Evaluation Report of July 4, 2012 and on the First Progress Report of 9 December 2013 and the Second Progress Report of December 8, 2015, is part of the ordinary reporting process according to the Rules of Procedure of MONEYVAL.
The MONEYVAL Committee welcomed the progress made by the Holy See and Vatican City State in the last two years. In particular, it noted the creation of a specialized Economic Financial Crimes Investigation Unit within the Corps of the Gendarmerie and the appointment of a specialized Assistant Promoter of Justice and recognized that the Financial Information Authority (AIF) is working efficiently as Financial Intelligence Unit and Supervisor and Regulator. The establishment of a functioning and sustainable reporting system as well as significant international cooperation were also positively highlighted.
At the same time, there are still areas for further improvement, in particular as regards law enforcement and the judicial side.
The Holy See is committed to taking the necessary actions in the relevant areas to further strengthen its efforts to combat and prevent financial crimes.
MONEYVAL is a permanent monitoring body of the Council of Europe responsible for assessing compliance with the main international standards on the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism and to assess the effectiveness of the application of these standards, as well as to make recommendations to the national authorities concerning the necessary improvements to their systems. Through a dynamic process of mutual evaluation, peer review and regular monitoring of its reports, MONEYVAL aims to improve the capacity of national authorities to combat money laundering and terrorist financing more effectively.
JF
