06/10/2011 -
The Bank of Italy's website has published the half-yearly bulletin of the U.I.F. [Financial Information Division] containing data relating to the reporting in the first half of 2011 of possible instances of money-laundering and financing of terrorism. There was a substantial increase in reports of suspect operations, reaching a total of 23,800 or 57% more than in the same period of 2010.
The document shows in particular that professionals and non-financial operators who are covered by the anti-money-laundering law submitted 223 reports (a number equivalent to those made in the whole of 2010 which in turn had seen higher numbers than previous years); of these, 106 were forwarded to the investigative bodies and only 8 were dismissed.
Reports were lodged mostly in the following Regions: Lazio, Lombardy, Tuscany and Emilia Romagna.
Notaries, with 84 reportings of suspect operations, are the professionals - amongst those called upon to cooperate in fighting this phenomenon - who provided the largest number of reports. In 47 cases the reports transited through the National Council of Notaries as intermediary, as per Article 43 of Legislative Decree no. 231/07.
