In 2017, 150 Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) were filed with the Financial Information Authority (AIF) of the Holy See and Vatican City State, which represents a decrease compared to the previous year when 207 SARs were filed. This is according to the AIF Annual Report that was presented by AIF President René Brülhart and AIF Director Tommaso di Ruzza at the Vatican Press Office today. “Such a tendency is positive because in parallel the quality of the reports increased, showing a growing awareness and strengthening of the control functions of the reporting subjects”, Tommaso di Ruzza said. In 2017, 8 reports were submitted to the Vatican Office of the Promoter of Justice for further investigation by the competent law enforcement authorities. “Considering the uniqueness of the jurisdiction, international cooperation is a key element of the activity of AIF”, Di Ruzza remarked, indicating that “in 2017, AIF signed 19 Memoranda of Understanding with its counterparts in foreign jurisdictions and exchanged information in 268 cases”. “Furthermore, the regulatory framework has been further strengthened, in particular with the introduction of Regulation n. 2, which sets the rules in regard of the data and information accompanying transfers of funds and the technical requirement for credit transfers and direct debits in Euro”.