Vatican City

New Documents

Vatican Welcomes New Moneyval Evaluation Report

Vatican News highlighted that the Holy See welcomes the recent report by the Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism, reiterating the jurisdiction’s commitment to working towards full compliance with international standards.

June 11, 2021

Moneyval Publishes 5th Round Mutual Evaluation of Holy See

The Council of Europe Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism published its 5th round evaluation report on the anti-money laundering and counterterrorist financing regime of the Holy See, including the Vatican City State.

June 9, 2021

Vatican Welcomes US Recognition of KYC Improvements

June 4, 2021

Vatican Announces New Anti-Corruption Law for Senior Management

May 3, 2021

Vatican: Former IOR President Convicted of Embezzlement, Money Laundering

January 22, 2021

News

Weekly Roundup: MoneyGram Exits AML Settlement, Luxembourg Faces Daily AML Penalty, and More

Malta ran AML advertising campaign, Moneyval criticized Vatican, and more, in the weekly roundup.

June 11, 2021

Weekly Roundup: White House Orders Regulatory Freeze, PayPal Closes Capitol Rioter’s Account, and More

USPS filed incomplete SARs, former Latvian AML regulators criticize their country’s AML enforcement, and more, in the weekly roundup.

January 22, 2021

Midweek Roundup: US House Again Approves BSA Reform, Treasury Sanctions Unit Set for Wholesale Audit Under Biden, and More

December 10, 2020

Midweek Roundup: FinCEN Logs Nearly 100,000 COVID SARs, Commonwealth Bank Funneled BTC-e Funds, and More

September 30, 2020

Midweek Roundup: New York Penalizes Deutsche Bank, FinCEN Releases COVID-19 Guidance, and More

July 8, 2020

Enforcement Actions

0 Items Found

Key Documents

Vatican City State Publishes Its First Out of Four Newly Adopted AML Laws (in Italian)

December 30, 2010

Vatican City Adopts AML Law

December 30, 2010

Pope Benedict XVI Adopts Vatican City State's AML Law

December 30, 2010

Supreme Pontiff Pope Benedict XVI Establishes AML Enforcement Institution (in Italian)

December 30, 2010

Important Facts

  • The U.S. State Department labels Vatican City (the Holy See) as a jurisdiction of concern. The Holy See is an atypical government, being simultaneously the supreme body of government of the Catholic Church and a sovereign entity under international law. The Institute for Works of Religion (IOR) performs functions similar to that of a bank, so it is commonly referred to as the Vatican Bank. Unlike a normal bank, the IOR does not loan money, collect interest or make a profit. Rather, the IOR acts as a clearinghouse for Vatican accounts, moving funds from Catholic Church sources to Catholic Church destinations. There is no market for illicit or smuggled goods in the Vatican City and there are no indications of trade or drug-based money laundering or ties to terrorist financing activity. Key reforms instituted by Pope Francis concerning the governance of three Vatican oversight bodies came into effect on March 1, 2015.
  • KYC Covered Entities:  All institutions, entities, or persons dependent on the Holy See, including departments of the Roman Curia and the IOR that perform financial activities on a professional basis, as well as nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), religious orders, convents, monasteries, charities, men and women religious, and diplomats assigned to the Holy See
  • STR Covered Entities:  All institutions, entities, or persons dependent on the Holy See, including departments of the Roman Curia and the IOR that perform financial activities on a professional basis, as well as NGOs, religious orders, convents, monasteries, charities, men and women religious, and diplomats assigned to the Holy See
  • Enhanced Due Diligence Procedures for PEPs: Foreign: Yes; Domestic: Yes
  • Money Laundering Criminal Prosecutions/Convictions: Prosecutions: 0 (2015); Convictions: 0 (2015)
Source: 2016 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR)

Rankings

FATF i | 2013 Methodology

Technical Effectiveness
Compliant : 4 High : 0
Largely Compliant : 28 Substantial : 5
Partially Compliant : 6 Moderate : 6
Non-Compliant : 1 Low : 0
Not-Applicable : 1

BASEL i

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TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL i

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Tax Justice Network i

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