French businessman to head Vatican bank
Print Edition
THE Vatican yesterday named a French businessman to head up its scandal-plagued bank as part of a radical overhaul ordered by Pope Francis after a year-long inquiry.
Jean-Baptiste de Franssu, former chief executive of Investco Europe, will lead a newly streamlined bank following internal investigations into thousands of suspicious, ineligible or inactive accounts.
“Our ambition is to become something of a model for financial management rather than cause for occasional scandal,” Vatican finance minister Cardinal George Pell, who was named earlier this year, said.
Franssu said he would “continue the efforts of transparency”, adding: “I see this role as a mission.”
The appointment comes a day after the bank said profits had been all but wiped out in cleaning up its accounts.
A team of experts have been preparing the ground for the overhaul since last summer, when the pope vowed to make Vatican finances transparent following decades of scandal.
Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi praised the outgoing bank management saying: “It was not easy to change from a style of silence and secrecy to one of transparency. And I think for the most part you have succeeded.”
Changes at the Institute for Religious Works (IOR) — as the bank is known — will include shifting assets to a new central Vatican Asset Management, while an existing property agency will be absorbed into the finance ministry.
The VAM, to be set up within two years, is planned to operate independently from IOR.
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