AP Interview: Vatican's 007 on Money-Laundering The revelations of wrongdoing currently rocking the Vatican bank couldn't have come at a worse time for the Swiss-born anti-money laundering expert hired to lead the Holy See's push for greater financial transparency. Rene Bruelhart was heading to Sun City, South Africa, for the annual meeting of the Egmont Group, a gathering of financial information agencies from 130 countries, when the Vatican announced that its top two bank managers had resigned amid a blossoming financial scandal involving a Vatican accountant. The two executives were responsible for implementing the Vatican bank's much-touted anti-money laundering efforts, but a preliminary internal investigation showed "clear failings" in the way the accountant's transactions were handled. Despite the news, the Holy See won coveted membership in the Egmont Group this week, joining a club that aims to share financial information in the global fight against money laundering and terror financing. For Bruelhart, dubbed the "James Bond of the financial world" by some media, joining Egmont means that the Vatican now is part of a trusted "family" and has more help in combating financial crimes - even if it can't root them out entirely. "With this membership, we are a credible player in the international and global fight against money laundering and terror finance," Bruelhart said in a telephone interview Thursday from Sun City. They trust us. That is very important. The Egmont Group, which was created in 1995, aims to smooth the exchange of information and improve cooperation among its members. Those members are the financial intelligence units of countries' central banks - the departments that collect and investigate reports of suspicious financial transactions. Bruelhart headed Liechtenstein's financial intelligence unit for eight years, and led the Egmont Group for two before being tapped by the Vatican as a consultant last year. The Holy See eventually named him director of its own financial intelligence unit to oversee all its financial activities. Then-Pope Benedict XVI created the Financial Intelligence Authority, or AIF, in 2010 as part of the Vatican's push to comply with international norms to fight money laundering. The Vatican's newborn AIF was faulted on several fronts when it was evaluated last year by independent European inspectors, though a follow-up evaluation is scheduled for December. Bruelhart has said that amended laws and regulations are in the works ahead of the December progress report, and that for now the Holy See was content to have passed the milestone with Egmont. Asked how Egmont could have cleared the Holy See when there are still clearly problems at the bank, Bruelhart stressed the Egmont evaluation criteria was transparent and formal, with on-site visits and evaluations of its legislative framework and regulations. "No country in the world is 100 percent perfect," he said. What's important is if something is happening, you have the competent authority and you have the tools and measures to take relevant action. The Vatican has certainly shown that it is far from perfect. Last week, Pope Francis named five people to head a commission of inquiry into the Vatican bank, the Institute for Religious Works, or IOR, to get to the root of the problems that have plagued it for decades and mired the Vatican in scandal over the years.