ASIF report: Improving the notification process for suspicious activities

Vatican News

The Intelligence and Financial Supervision Authority (ASIF) continues its activities to contribute to unifying prevention and combating money laundering, terrorist financing and the spread of weapons of mass destruction (ADM/FT) from the Apostolic Chair and the Vatican city, as is documented in the annual report published today 2024.

Suspicious activity reports

During the year 2024, ASIF 79 received suspicious activity report (123 in 2023), of which 73 came from the entity subject to supervision (118 in 2023). However, in this regard, the decrease in numbers is the news that must be accepted with consent, because it represents an increase in quality and not a decrease in care by informants. Asif also explains in his report, the result of the gradual improvement of the selection process for reporting, as well as indicators such as the increase in national and international cooperation (65 communications, respectively, compared to 54 in 2023, 44 exchanges, 44 exchanges, and 44 exchanges in 202 in 2023), where the number of reports was stable (1123). Approved preventive measures (2 suspension of transactions and operations, 2 freezing, money and other economic resources; against the suspension in 2023).

A supplementary confirmation of the strengthening of the CR/FT system, which finds the point of nodal origin specifically in the process of notifying suspicious activities, confirms the results of the specific evaluation that was made in this regard in the institution subject to supervision. In fact, ASIF refers to “appropriate commitment”, “an effective organizational and procedural device” and the rapid structure of the work plan on “restricted improvement areas”. Continuous monitoring by the supervisory authority and the resumption of training activities for the entity subject to supervision (from the training session held on December 19 and 20, 2024) are other relevant elements that support the continuous commitment to power with this goal.

More interest in “geographical risks”

The annual report of 2024 provides a chapter between communications by referring to real anomalies (this year, among other things, the most common anomalies for the first time) and communications are published in an indication of the motivation anomalies only through direct or unnecessary connections with highly dangerous terms of reference and its manufacture of resistance material (36). It is an important modernity, which shows a special interest in the “geographical risks” that have been settled by SO: an element of decisive importance to the effectiveness of the RC/FT system for the jurisdiction, whose only institution that has developed professionally has financial activities as its mission is the service of the church in the world, especially in the geographical areas where the need for the existence of the church is greater. Again, however, ASIF emphasizes that there are no critical problems in this regard: none of these reports were made to send the justice of the justice.

IOR was confirmed as a strong and organized entity

During the year 2024, ASIF carried out a continuous and systematic achievement of the relevant and sustainable health management files for Istituto Per LE working on Di Religione (IOR). Supervising interest in compliance with the standards of wisdom and operational limits, as well as monitoring the development of the economic situation and liquidity, for the only institution authorized to practice financial activities professionally in the judicial state, was also strengthened by the means of the environment, social and companies (and thus recognizing the increasing exhaustion of ASG factors). Special attention was paid to the financial scope. The results of all these activities allowed Dr. Carmello Barbagalo in the “President’s speech” as a presenter of the annual report, to be able to explicitly reference to “the good results obtained by IOR, which was confirmed as a strong and well -organized organization.”

Moneyval confirms improvements

The annual report of 2024 also refers to the positive result of monitoring the Moneyval Committee of the Council of Europe on technical compliance – that is, the consensus of the regulatory framework of the jurisdiction with the rules of the International Financial Procedures Group – for the Judicial State. In particular, during the mutual evaluation process in the fifth round, the progress made by the Apostolic Chair (including the state of the Vatican city) was evaluated after the mutual evaluation report in April 2021.

At the sixty -sixth plenary session of the Moneyval Committee, held in May 2024, it was decided to improve the three recommendations that were re -evaluated (i.e. Recommendation 13, on the bank correspondent; recommendation 16, regarding transfer of funds; recommendation 24, on the real transparency and ownership of legal persons). Nowadays, the judicial jurisdiction reached a classification of full or high compliance in 35 out of 39 recommendations.

“President”

“Reading this annual report,” President Barbagalo writes by submitting the report, “stresses, with the strength of numbers and the exit of arguments, that the authority of intelligence and financial honor was able to preserve, at the level of 2024, at a high level in its work in the field of prevention and fighting against money from capital, terrorist financing and assuming them in terrorist activity. As well as the good results achieved by IOR, they witness.

“Among the activities implemented by the authority, Barbagalo writes,” I would like to highlight the importance of two of them: on the one hand, the ability to help – in fact of its subsequent recovery – the path of money from crimes, and on the other hand, the contribution made to the Vatican authorities and legal persons in the face of laundering money and the use of money from crimes. “