Profits plunge at Vatican bank

By Giulia Segreti
Financial Times
July 8, 2014

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/edf3e7d4-0675-11e4-8c0e-00144feab7de.html#axzz36oK0VL4B

Profits at the Vatican bank plunged last year after thousands of accounts were closed as part of an overhaul of the scandal-ridden institution.

The losses include a €15m loan granted to a production company owned by a friend of Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, a former senior prelate who retired last year from his position as secretary of state.

Since April 2013 almost 3,000 accounts have been closed and more than 2,000 have been blocked as a result of a screening process of all the accounts held in the troubled bank.

George Pell, the Australian cardinal heading the secretariat for the economy at the Vatican, said in a statement: “This is a time of major change in the Holy See . . . we are creating simpler, more efficient structures for those serving the mission of the Catholic Church.”

The Vatican bank, officially known as the Institute for Religious Works (IOR), now has 17,419 customers, down from 18,900 in 2012.

In only the second annual report to be published, the bank announced net profit fell from €86.6m in 2012 to €2.9m last year. In the first six months of 2014 net profit was €57.4m.