The United States Department of State has added the Vatican to a list of 67 countries that could be potentially susceptible to money-laundering, the Vatican Insider reports.
In the annual report on the International Narcotics Control Strategy, the US government has listed the Holy See as a "Jurisdiction of Concern", alongside Albania, the Czech Republic, Egypt, South Korea, Malaysia, Vietnam and Yemen.
The "Jurisdiction of Concern" category is a notch below that of "Jurisdictions of Primary Concern," which amount to a watch list of "major money laundering countries," such as Afghanistan, Australia, Brazil, the Cayman Islands, China, Japan, Russia, Great Britain, The United States itself, Uruguay and Zimbabwe.
The Vatican launched its first anti-money-laundering program in 2011, but another year will need to go by in order to gauge how efficient it is, a State Department official, who wished to remain anonymous, said.
The Holy See is therefore "potentially vulnerable" to the problem, given the huge influx of money that circulates between it and the rest of the world.
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Vatican investigated for potential money-laundering activities (Vatican Insider)