Vatican bank names consultant as director as overhaul continues

VATICAN CITY
Reuters

BY JAMES MACKENZIE
ROME Sat Nov 30, 2013

Nov 30 (Reuters) – The Vatican bank said on Saturday it had appointed Rolando Marranci, a consultant called in to help improve transparency, as director general to take charge of operations as the institution seeks to reform after a series of scandals.

Marranci, 60, has acted as deputy director general since July, when the then-director general Paolo Cipriani and his number two Massimo Tulli resigned after a senior cleric with close ties to the bank was arrested on suspicion of plotting to smuggle 20 million euros into Italy from Switzerland.

He previously worked with Promontory Financial Group, an outside consultancy called in by Pope Francis to help review all accounts held by the bank’s customers and tighten anti-money laundering procedures.

A former executive with Italy’s Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, Marranci’s appointment is the latest in a series of changes at the bank, formally known as the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR) as it battles to emerge from allegations it has dragged its feet in improving transparency standards.

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