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Effectiveness of Vatican AML Law Will Hinge on Enforcement, Say Analysts

By Colby Adams

A new Vatican anti-money laundering law and watchdog organization could do little to allay the concerns of European authorities about the city-state's secretive financial system, say analysts. The Authority of Financial Information (AFI), created Thursday under an apostolic letter from Pope Benedict XVI, will enforce measures meant to curb financial crime at all Vatican organizations, according to the Vatican's Web site. The AFI's formation coincides with the implementation of four laws intended to curb money laundering, terrorist financing, fraud and counterfeiting. Under the Vatican's new anti-money laundering (AML) law, the Instituto per le Opere di Religione (IOR), known as Vatican...

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