Pope to issue new bank norms amid laundering probe

Vatican officials confirmed Wednesday that Pope Benedict XVI’s executive order called a “motu proprio” making the rules into law,would be released day.

The Vatican has maintained it has been working for over a year to come into compliance with such international norms,but the effort went into high gear following the money laundering probe,which embarrassed the Vatican and its bank chairman,economist Ettore Gotti Tedeschi.

Rome prosecutors on September 21 seized 23 million euros and placed Gotti Tedeschi and his deputy under investigation,alleging the bank broke the law by trying to transfer money without identifying the sender or recipient.

The two men have not been charged.

The Vatican has insisted the probe resulted from a “misunderstanding” that it hoped to clarify quickly. But twice Rome courts have refused to release the money,with a judge earlier this month saying nothing had changed in the way the Vatican guards the identity of its clients.

The Vatican bank is formally named Institute for Religious Works,or IOR,in Italian.

Gotti Tedeschi,who was named chairman of the IOR last year,has said he has been working to get the Vatican on the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s “white list” of countries that share tax information to crack down on tax havens.