Institute for Works of Religion

Vatican releases 1st report of financial watchdog, but several transparency issues remain

The Canadian PressMay 22, 2013 07:45

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican took another step Wednesday to show greater financial transparency by publishing the first annual report from its financial watchdog agency and announcing new regulations to fight money laundering and terror financing. The report from the Financial Intelligence Authority showed the agency received six internal reports on suspicious transactions in 2012, up from one a year earlier, and that two were sent onto Vatican prosecutors for investigation.

Insight - Pope to review Vatican bureaucracy, scandal-ridden bank

Thomson ReutersApril 2, 2013 10:15

By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis, who has said he wants the Catholic Church to be a model of austerity and honesty, could restructure or even close the Vatican's scandal-ridden bank as part of a broad review of its troubled bureaucracy, Vatican sources say.

German financier named new president of Vatican bank

Agence France-PresseFebruary 15, 2013 08:30

German financier Ernst von Freyberg was named the new president of the Vatican bank on Friday, ending a long vacancy after his predecessor at the secretive institution was unceremoniously sacked. Von Freyberg, a trained lawyer, is chairman of the Blohm + Voss shipyard in Hamburg in northern Germany and an active member of the Knights of Malta. From 1991 until 2012 he was chief executive of Frankfurt-based Daiwa Corporate Advisory, a consultancy mainly for financial institutions.

UPDATE 3-German appointed to head scandal-hit Vatican bank

Thomson ReutersFebruary 15, 2013 08:30

* Former bank head ousted amid money laundering investigation * New chief approved by Pope Benedict as he nears retirement * Links to warship company under scrutiny By Robin Pomeroy VATICAN CITY, Feb 15 (Reuters) - The Vatican appointed a German lawyer to head its bank on Friday, but the bid to turn the fortunes of the scandal-hit institution was clouded by his business links to a military shipbuilder.