Memorandum of Understanding Between Vatican Bank and Argentine Financial Intelligence Unit

Here is the text of the Vatican’s Financial Information Authority (AIF) Memorandum of Understanding with the Argentine Financial Information Unit (UIF). The AIF and UIF signed this memorandum Tuesday at the Vatican. The UIF is Argentina’s governmental body in charge of the analysis, treatment and transmission of information for preventing and impeding money laundering and terrorism financing.

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L’Autorità Informazione Finanziaria (AIF), the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Holy See and Vatican City State, has formalized its bilateral cooperation with Argentina, signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at the Vatican on Tuesday.

The MOU was signed in the Palazzo San Carlo by the Director of AIF, Rene Bruelhart, and the President of the Unidad de Información Financiera (UIF) of Argentina, José Sbattella.

«We’re very pleased to have signed this MOU with Argentina today,» Bruelhart said. «This is an important step to further expand the network to support global efforts to fight Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism. We’re looking forward to fruitful cooperation with Argentina, which will be beneficial to both parties.»

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is standard practice and formalizes the cooperation and exchange of financial information to fight money laundering and combat terrorist financing across borders between the competent authorities of both countries. It is based on the model Memorandum of Understanding prepared by the Egmont Group, the global organization of national Financial Intelligence Units, and contains clauses on reciprocity, permitted uses of information and confidentiality.

AIF became a member of the Egmont Group in July of 2013, and has already signed MOUs with the Financial Intelligence Units of more than a dozen countries, including the U.K., the United States, France, Spain, Italy and Germany.

AIF is the competent authority of the Holy See/Vatican City State to fight money laundering and the financing of terrorism. It was established in 2010.