VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

Francis has said “no” to an initiative put forward by the President of the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR) and approved by the Institute’s board, for the creation of a SICAV investment fund in Luxembourg for the management of deposits

ANDREA TORNIELLI
VATICAN CITY

The decision had been given the green light by the IOR’s lay Board of Superintendence. But it was halted first by the body’s supervisory Commission of Cardinals and then by the Pope himself. The Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR) will not have its own SICAV – (Société d’Investissement à Capital Variable) a type of investment fund that has a variable share capital. The IOR’s president, Jean-Baptiste de Franssu had wanted to set up this fund in Luxembourg. However, Francis has, since the very start of his pontificate, opposed the IOR’s tendency to behave like an investment…