UNITED STATES
CBS News
By ROBERT HENNELLY MONEYWATCH September 25, 2015
Critics of Pope Francis have cast him as anti-capitalist, seizing on his warnings about global warming and the corrosive effects of inequality. But the reality is more complex, as shown by his efforts to turn the scandal-plagued Vatican bank into a more efficient — and profitable — financial institution.
Under Pope Francis’ watch the secretive bank, long linked to money laundering and tax evasion, is for the first time in its 73-year-history complying with international banking standards and other transparency rules, advancing reform efforts started by his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI. Francis upped the ante on the campaign by replacing many of the bank’s top advisers.
The Institute for the Works of Religion, as the bank is officially known, is also seeing its earnings rebound, which some commercial bankers might view as a kind of miracle given the financial industry’s aversion to regulations.
The bank’s profits have gone from $3.9 million in 2013, when the pontiff — born Jorge Mario Bergoglio — was elected Pope to $75.5 million last year. Other standard benchmarks of bank profitability also highlight the Institute’s gains. Both the Vatican bank’s average return on its holdings and its profit margin on interest-bearing assets have climbed since 2012, according to SNL Financial. The bank’s so-called Tier 1 capital ratio — for regulators, the most important measure of a lender’s financial strength — has also risen over that time.
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