In 2013 and in the first half of 2014, reports of suspicious transactions to the Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF), an independent body of the Bank of Italy, multiplied. The report for 2013 states that the total amount reported was 84 billion euros, double that of 2012.
85% of reports are made by banks and only 4% by professionals (the contribution of the Public Administration offices is almost zero). 43% comes from three regions: Lombardy (17,9%), Lazio (14,2%) and Campania (11,1%). In all, there were 600 reports of suspicious transactions concerning the correct allocation of public funding.
Italy must counter "a gray area of financial operators willing to become an instrument of money laundering", affirms the director of the UIF, Claudio Clemente, underlining that "a choice of sides is needed between refusal of money laundering and connivance". Clemente also hopes for a reform of the Italian rules which, "in contrast to international and community standards, do not provide for the same unit to have access to investigative and judicial data".
The director of the UIF specifies that the heavy use of creative finance instruments often serves to mask corruption phenomena. In particular, to conceal the identity of the beneficial owners, recourse is made to "innovative investment instruments, fiduciary mandates and complex corporate chains", with international offshoots and the use of trusts.
