The Council of Europe’s financial supervisory authority MONEYVAL has published its review of the AML/CFT framework of the Holy See (including the Vatican City State). The authority has encouraged the jurisdiction to continue strengthening its AML/CFT measures.
MONEYVAL’s report states that the jurisdiction’s authorities demonstrate a high-level understanding of their ML/TF risks and vulnerabilities. They have ensured diligent customer due diligence and record-keeping as well as a thorough risk-based monitoring of transactions throughout business relationships. At the same time, the report points out that the jurisdiction has not yet addressed the domestic cases that suggest potential exploitation of the internal system by mid-level and senior insiders for personal gains in the national risk assessment.
The report also notes the extended time periods taken by ML investigations during the period under review. It identifies that this extension came as result of delayed responses from foreign authorities as well as under-resourcing. MONEYVAL has further recognized that the Holy See on its part deployed considerable resources to ensure a prompt and useful international cooperation. Finally, the report states that given its positive review, the Holy See (including the Vatican City State) will become part of MONEYVAL’s regular follow-up reporting process.
Source: Council of Europe