Posted on 06/27/2012 6:19:36 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Italian prosecutors have now detained the former head of the Vatican’s bank after searching his home and former office for suspected criminal behavior. Catholics and followers of the Holy See will be disappointed to learn that the Vatican’s bank appears to be embroiled in yet another financial scandal. After a number of very embarrassing episodes in recent years, the Pope pledged to comply with international standards on illicit finance and clean up the bank’s image.
The European Union has an important role to play in helping the Vatican mitigate risk and come into full compliance; the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), set up by the G-7 to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, has a responsibility as well.
The Institute for Works of Religion (IOR), commonly referred to as the Vatican Bank, is a privately held financial institution located inside Vatican City. Founded in 1942, the IOR’s role is to safeguard and administer property intended for works of religion or charity. The bank accepts deposits only from top Church officials and entities, according to Italian legal scholar Settimio Caridi.
It is run by a president but overseen by five cardinals who report directly to the Vatican and the Vatican’s secretary of state. Because so little is known about the bank’s daily operations and transactions, it has often been called “the most secret bank in the world.”
The bank’s president, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, a well-known and well-regarded figure throughout European banking and social circles, was effectively sacked when the board passed a unanimous “no-confidence” vote in late May. Hired in 2009 with the hope that he would clear the IOR’s reputation, he was fired, according to the Vatican announcement, because he failed to fulfill the “primary functions of his office.”
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
meanwhile, the fed continues to operate without any sort of oversight, any sort of audit, any sort of checks and balances....so let’s focus on the vatican bank.....
Forbes is worried about this when the federal reserve, almost after 100 years of existence, has never been audited??
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