WASHINGTON - Federal regulators are ordering the Bank of Montreal to take steps to correct lapses in oversight that could allow the bank to be used for money laundering. The Federal Reserve announced an agreement Friday with the bank, which is one of Canada's largest. The Fed cited procedural deficiencies to prevent money laundering in the bank and its Chicago branch. No financial penalty was imposed on the bank under the agreement. The bank agreed to submit detailed plans to the Fed and to Illinois banking regulators for strengthening its programs and correcting problems.

By Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The regulator of the Vatican bank on Tuesday signed an information-sharing pact with the U.S. agency that tracks suspicious financial transactions, part of an effort by the scandal-ridden bank to improve its international image. The bank, which manages money mostly for dioceses and religious institutions and is known as the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR), has traditionally been isolated from the international regulatory system.

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican has signed an agreement with the U.S. Treasury Department to exchange financial information as part of its efforts to comply with international anti-money laundering and anti-terror financing norms. It's the fourth such agreement inked by the Holy See as it seeks to improve its reputation in global financial circles following a series of scandals at its bank and a money laundering investigation launched by Rome prosecutors.

TORONTO - The Canadian Securities Administrators said Friday that it is investigating the recent loss of a portable device containing client information by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada. The council of the provincial and territorial securities regulators said it was reviewing the facts surrounding this incident, including IIROC's policies, procedures and controls relating to information security, the encryption of data and the collection and storage of personal information.