Perhaps the Vatican should tell us whether it is fine for NY State to pick and chose one Easter Sunday over the other to close Nassau OTB. Ditto for Palm Sunday.
New York State does not have an official religion or does it?
See also NY Const. Art 1, SEc. 3
Vatican, U.S. in Anti-Money-Laundering Deal
By ALESSANDRA GALLONI
VATICAN CITY—The Vatican took another step toward making its finances more transparent Tuesday, signing a deal with U.S. regulators under which each side will share information about financial transactions with the aim of rooting out money laundering and other illicit dealings.The deal announced by the Vatican marks the latest move by the world's smallest state in response to international pressure to better police the Holy See's finances, which for decades were considered opaque.
The efforts began in earnest in 2010 in the wake of an investigation by Italian prosecutors into whether the Vatican bank had violated Italy's money-laundering laws—an allegation the Vatican denies.
Measures so far have included laws against money laundering and terrorist financing; regulation that helps bring to justice anyone who commits financial misdeeds on Vatican territory; and the creation of the watchdog, or Financial Information Authority.
Under the new agreement, the FIA and the U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network—which is headed by Jennifer Shasky Calvery—will be able to share information about financial transactions in their respective territories, the Vatican statement said.
The FIA is discussing similar agreements with about 20 other countries, and Vatican officials hope the U.S. deal will help pave the way.
"This is another step forward in the process that the Vatican initiated in 2010 and shows that we take this seriously," FIA director René Bruelhart said in an interview.
The Vatican's financial watchdog was created in 2011 as part of a regulatory overhaul announced by the former Pope Benedict XVI in late 2010.
For the Vatican, which has long cherished its culture of confidentiality, the effort to open up financial dealings to outside scrutiny hasn't been easy.
Months after the FIA was created, for example, Vatican officials rewrote the Holy See's financial laws. They kept the financial intelligence functions of the FIA intact, but left the details of its supervisory functions to be defined by subsequent regulation—which has yet to be completed.
The changes were criticized by some at the Vatican, including in documents that leaked out into the Italian press, creating some embarrassment for the Holy See.
Because the FIA's role is mainly focused on financial intelligence, its U.S. counterpart is the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, not the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to a person who worked on Tuesday's agreement.
The Vatican is also still undergoing evaluation by Moneyval, a committee of financial experts backed by the 47-nation Council of Europe, as part of its bid to persuade foreign lenders and their regulators that Vatican financial institutions are transparent.
Last July, Moneval gave the Vatican a mixed report card. It said the Vatican had come a long way, but warned that the Holy See regulators still lacked the power to oversee the flow of money within its borders.
Write to Alessandra Galloni at alessandra.galloni@wsj.com
HI-
Stop scratching on holidays
Off Track Betting in New York State has been racing into a crisis called shrinking revenue. Some people have spitballed a solution: Don’t close on holidays.
New York State Racing Law bars racing on Christmas, Easter and Palm Sunday, and the state has ruled OTBs can’t handle action on those days, even though they could easily broadcast races from out of state.
“You should be able to bet whenever you want,” said Jackson Leeds, a Nassau OTB employee who makes an occasional bet. He added some irrefutable logic: “How is the business going to make money if you’re not open to take people’s bets?”
Elias Tsekerides, president of the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York, said OTB is open on Greek Orthodox Easter and Palm Sunday.
“I don’t want discrimination,” Tsekerides said. “They close for the Catholics, but open for the Greek Orthodox? It’s either open for all or not open.”
OTB officials have said they lose millions by closing on Palm Sunday alone, with tracks such as Gulfstream, Santa Anita, Turf Paradise and Hawthorne running.
One option: OTBs could just stay open and face the consequences. New York City OTB did just that back in 2003. The handle was about $1.5 million – and OTB was fined $5,000.
Easy money.
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Stop scratching on holidays
Published: June 1, 2012
Off Track Betting in New York State has been racing into a crisis called shrinking revenue. Some people have spitballed a solution: Don’t close on holidays.
New York State Racing Law bars racing on Christmas, Easter and Palm Sunday, and the state has ruled OTBs can’t handle action on those days, even though they could easily broadcast races from out of state.
“You should be able to bet whenever you want,” said Jackson Leeds, a Nassau OTB employee who makes an occasional bet. He added some irrefutable logic: “How is the business going to make money if you’re not open to take people’s bets?”
Elias Tsekerides, president of the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York, said OTB is open on Greek Orthodox Easter and Palm Sunday.
“I don’t want discrimination,” Tsekerides said. “They close for the Catholics, but open for the Greek Orthodox? It’s either open for all or not open.”
OTB officials have said they lose millions by closing on Palm Sunday alone, with tracks such as Gulfstream, Santa Anita, Turf Paradise and Hawthorne running.
One option: OTBs could just stay open and face the consequences. New York City OTB did just that back in 2003. The handle was about $1.5 million – and OTB was fined $5,000.
Easy money.
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