Europe

Vatican Bank involved in money-laundering?

Topics: 
Financial industry, Charities & non-profits, Europe
Rating: 
1

Nick Squires – March 20, 2012

Thirty years after it was entangled in a scandal involving the mafia, money laundering and the mysterious death of the man nicknamed "God's banker", the Vatican bank faces fresh controversy.

The bank — formally known as the Institute for Works of Religion or IOR — has suffered the ignominy of having one of its accounts closed by JP Morgan after stone-walling requests for information.

Irish whistleblower proposals published

Topics: 
Legislation, Europe
Rating: 
0

Irish Times – February 27, 2012

So-called ‘whistleblowers’ who seek to expose wrongdoing in either the public or private sectors will be protected from prosecution under proposals published by Minister for Public Expenditure Brendan Howlin today.

The draft heads of the Protected Disclosure in the Public Interest Bill 2012 aim to ensure that workers are protected from reprisals where they disclose information relating to wrongdoing in their workplaces.

Italy's graft worsens 20 years after major scandal

Topics: 
Corruption, Europe
Rating: 
2

Emilio Parodi and Lisa Jucca –February 17, 2012

Twenty years after the "Clean Hands" graft scandal swept away Italy's old political system and sent hundreds of people to jail, corruption in the euro zone's third largest economy is worse than ever and has seeped deep into society.

"Illegality, corruption...are still notably present in the country," Luigi Giampaolino, head of Italy's audit court, said in a major speech on Thursday.Officials say that corruption costs 60 billion euros a year, around the size of Italy's budget deficit. According to audit court figures, the sum is about half the estimated cost of corruption in the whole of the European Union.

Canada threatens trade war with EU over tar sands

Topics: 
Oil & gas industry, Government transparency, Environment, Europe
Rating: 
0

Damian Carrington – February 20, 2012

Canada has threatened a trade war with European Union over the bloc's plan to label oil from Alberta's vast tar sands as highly polluting, the Guardian can reveal, before a key vote in Brussels on 23 February.

"Canada will not hesitate to defend its interests, including at the World Trade Organisation," state letters sent to European commissioners by Canada's ambassador to the EU and its oil minister, released under freedom of information laws.

Ireland: draft whistleblower protection legislation due

Topics: 
Legislation, Europe
Rating: 
0
Louise Bayliss

Draft legislation aimed at protecting agency workers to blow the whistle on wrongdoing is due to be published this week. The draft will go to Cabinet tomorrow, a spokesperson for the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform told TheJournal.ie. The proposed legislation would also extend to private sector workers.

The need for whistleblowing legislation was highlighted in the Programme for Government, where it was vowed that an Act to protect public servants to “expose maladministration by Ministers or others” would be put in place.

Irish whistleblower Louise Bayliss reinstated

Topics: 
Victories, Health care, Europe
Rating: 
2
Louise Bayliss

The Journal – January 24, 2012

The whistleblower who raised awareness of plans to keep mental health patients in a locked unit over the Christmas period has been reinstated by her employer, less than a week after being terminated.

Louise Bayliss had made the national airwaves before Christmas when she publicised how a number of mental health patients were to be transferred to St Brendan’s Hospital in Grangegorman for Christmas – where they were to be kept in a locked unit.

Vatican besieged by reports of misconduct

Topics: 
Financial industry, Europe
Rating: 
0

Associated Press – February 11, 2012

Money laundering at the Vatican bank. Corruption in the awarding of Vatican contracts. Even a purported plot to kill Pope Benedict XVI.

The Vatican is being besieged by near-daily leaks of confidential documents and tabloid-style reports of alleged financial mismanagement, political infighting and gossip about who might be the next pope — all coming out at an exceedingly delicate time for the Holy See and Benedict himself.

People in EU see corruption as worsening – poll

Topics: 
Corruption, Europe
Rating: 
2

The Sofia Echo – February 15, 2012

People in the European Union think that levels of corruption have risen in the past three years, according to a Eurobarometer survey released on February 15 2012.

Almost three-quarters of Europeans continue to see corruption as a major problem and think that it exists at all levels of government. Eight per cent of respondents say that they have been asked or expected to pay a bribe in the past year.

Irish whistleblower bill to cover public and private sectors

Topics: 
Legislation, Europe
Rating: 
2

Deaglán de Bréadún – January 30, 2012

Draft legislation to protect whistleblowers, which is being brought to Cabinet tomorrow by Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin, will cover both the public and private sectors.

“We want to get it enacted early so that people who genuinely see wrongdoing, public or private, can blow the whistle without putting themselves on the hazard,” a Government source said last night.

Italy's crisis opens doors to cash-rich mafia

Topics: 
Organized crime, Financial industry, Europe
Rating: 
2

Valentina Za – January 13, 2012

When Italian construction group Perego was struggling back in 2008, a white knight flush with cash rode to its rescue. Unfortunately the "knight" was a powerful mafia organization, the 'Ndrangheta, which went on to take control of the family-owned Lombardy business and tried to steer it on an expansion path, Italian justice authorities say.

"Luckily it failed," said Milan judge Giuseppe Gennari. The group has since collapsed and former chairman Ivano Perego is awaiting trial for opening his door to the crime syndicate.

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