Guardia di Finanza

Guardia di Finanza
Coat of arms of the Guardia di Finanza, depicting the Cimon della Pala
Motto	Nec Recisa Recedit Does not retreat even if broken
Agency overview
Formed	October 5, 1774
Employees	68,134
Legal personality	Governmental: Government agency
Jurisdictional structure
National agency	ITA
Governing body	Ministry of Economy and Finances (Italy)
General nature	Law enforcement Gendarmerie
Operational structure
Headquarters	Rome
Elected officer responsible	Pier Carlo Padoan, Minister of Economy and Finance
Agency executive	Giorgio Toschi, General Commander
Website
www.gdf.it

The Guardia di Finanza (GdF) (Italian pronunciation: [ˈɡwardja di fiˈnantsa]; English: Financial Guard) is an Italian law enforcement agency under the authority of the Minister of Economy and Finance. It is a militarized police force, forming a part of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, not the Ministry of Defence. Guardia di Finanza is essentially responsible for dealing with financial crime and smuggling; it has also evolved into Italy's primary agency for suppressing the drugs trade. It maintains over 600 boats and ships and more than 100 aircraft to serve in its mission of patrolling Italy's territorial waters.

The mission and institutional tasks of Guardia di Finanza are stated in the law 189 of April 23, 1959 and 68/2001 and are subdivided into priority ones (preventing, investigating and reporting financial evasions and violations, overseeing the compliance with the provisions of politico-economic interest and surveillance at sea for financial police purposes) and contribution ones (maintaining public order and safety and political-military defense of the borders).

The primary goal of the Guardia di Finanza is to protect the legal economy and the businesses operating in compliance with the law, while ensuring that the Republic, the European Union, the regions, and the local governments can rely on a regular inflow and appropriate use of the resources meant for the community, and for supporting policies for economic and social revival and development.

Its activities are connected with financial, economic, judiciary and public safety: tax evasion, financial crimes, smuggling, money laundering, international illegal drug trafficking, illegal immigration, customs and borders checks, copyright violations, anti-Mafia operations, credit card fraud, cybercrime, counterfeiting, terrorist financing, maintaining public order, and safety, political and military defense of the Italian borders.