VATICAN CITY
Go Banking Rates
By Christina Lavingia
In recent years, the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR), often referred to as the Vatican Bank, has come under scrutiny for its lack of transparency and use of funds. With a history of accusations tying the Vatican Bank to everything from money-laundering to connections with the Mafia to, most recently, the funneling of tens of millions of dollars toward legal settlements surrounding priest sex-abuse scandals, many are calling for the Vatican Bank to be more upfront about where its money comes from — and goes.
Recent Years of Controversy for the Vatican Bank
According to CNBC, in 2010, the Italian government began investigating the Vatican Bank after the Bank of Italy notified the authorities about two transactions it made totaling $30 million, from Credito Artigianato to JPMorgan Chase and Banca del Fucino. The Vatican violated Italian law by not stating the origin of the money, but denied any wrongdoing; the matter was eventually dropped.
The Vatican Bank officially operates as a financial institution designed to support charitable work, meaning it can avoid typical banking governance. However, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI tried to get the Vatican on the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development’s “white list” in 2010, designated for countries that uphold international banking standards.
At the end of that year, Benedict created the Financial Information Authority as an independent agency to oversee the Vatican Bank and other Vatican-related institutions in regard to their financial activities.
However, the 2012 “Vatileaks” affair, in which Benedict’s former butler leaked documents disclosing transfers made to the American church to cover its more than $3 billion in sex-abuse settlements, made it clear that the Vatican Bank was still struggling with corruption.
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