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Italy, Vatican in cooperation to uncover secret banking

Xinhua, March 12, 2015 Adjust font size:

Negotiations are underway between Vatican and Italy to share financial information, thus paving the way to put an end to secrecy at the Vatican bank, Vatican's secretary of state said on Wednesday.

According to local media, following rumours that top Vatican and Italian officials were discussing a deal, Cardinal Pietro Parolin on Wednesday confirmed "negotiations are underway" between the two countries.

Vatican is working towards "a process of better transparency and of better collaboration with Italy in the fiscal spheres," Parolin told a press briefing.

"We hope that we can soon arrive at a conclusion that I think could be beneficial for everyone," he said.

The two governments were "working at a good pace", he added.

Vatican Pope Francis last year brought in an Australian cardinal, George Pell, to clean up the church's finances and ensure greater transparency. This kind of reform is now moving beyond the Vatican walls, Parolin said, with Vatican working with a number of other states on possible financial agreements.

Local reports said the Italian government had been seeking greater cooperation abroad, in recent weeks signing deals with Monaco and Switzerland to catch people hiding funds abroad. The new agreements are set to help Italy recover some of the 90 billion euros (about 95 billion U.S. dollars) lost through tax evasion each year. Enditem