VATICAN (CNS): Pope Francis appointed Carmelo Barbagallo as the new head of the Financial Intelligence Authority (AIF), the Vatican’s financial watchdog agency, following the resignation of its president, Rene Bruelhart, it was announced on November 27.
The end of Bruelhart’s time as head of the Vatican’s financial watchdog agency came over a month after Vatican police conducted a raid on offices in the Secretariat of State and AIF on October 1.
L’Espresso magazine published what it said was an internal notice from the Vatican police barring certain individuals from entering Vatican City State and alleged that the raid was part of a Vatican investigation into how the Secretariat of State used US$200 million to finance a property development project in London’s Chelsea district in 2014.
During his return flight to Rome on November 26 after a week-long trip to Thailand and Japan, Pope Francis told reporters that while questions about the Vatican’s finances and the London development project were serious, investigations conducted by Vatican authorities are proof that reform procedures instituted by Pope Benedict XVI are working.
Barbagallo, a seasoned Italian finance inspector, said in an interview with Vatican News that he was honoured by the appointment and “aware of the full weight of the moral and professional responsibility it carries.”
He said, “In carrying out my service of responsibility in leading the AIF, I will work to bring all my experience accumulated in 40 years working at the Bank of Italy, as an inspector, as head of vigilance of the Italian banking and financial sector and in the context of the supervision of the European banking system.”
He also emphasised AIF’s important role in upholding the “fundamental values of fairness and transparency of all financial movements.”
He continued, “I intend to reassure the international system of financial information that all cooperation will be given in full respect of the best international standards,” adding, “I will be at work already today to ensure continuity in the work of the AIF in pursuing its important institutional objectives.”
