By Carby Rose Basina

A Filipino-American economist has been appointed as part of the Holy See’s financial intelligence and anti-money laundering unit by Pope Francis.

Dr. Roberto Mariano has been named a board member of the Supervisory and Financial Information Authority (ASIF), according to an article published on the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) official page.

On May 9, he was appointed to the position.

The ASIF is the Vatican City State’s competent authority for overseeing and regulating activities aimed at preventing and countering money laundering, terrorist financing, financial intelligence, and the prudential supervision and regulation of entities that engage in professional financial activity.

It is a member of the Egmont Group, a global group that brings together financial intelligence units from 152 countries and jurisdictions to share norms and best practices for international collaboration and information exchange.

Vatican News remarked Mariano as “renowned for many of the econometric models he has helped create today as planning and forecasting tools.”

Dr. Mariano was born in Rizal province in 1944. In the 1960s, he moved to the United States and became a naturalized citizen in 1980.

He is an economics professor emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania, where he has been on the faculty since 1971. In the Department of Economics, he was the undergraduate chair.

Meanwhile, ASIF president Carmelo Barbagallo lauded Mariano’s appointment, stating that his knowledge and experience would benefit the financial watchdog.

Bargallo was “certain” that Mariano would “contribute his experience and professionalism for an outstanding fulfillment of the tasks” designated to the ASIF.