THE firing on May 24 of Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, the president of the Vatican Bank, because of a failure to “promote transparency”, must have sent a frisson of fear through the upper echelons of the Roman Curia, coming as it did three decades after another scandal involving the same institution.

The Vatican has said the head of its bank, who is being investigated in a money laundering case, has been ousted after receiving a unanimous vote of no-confidence from bank overseers.

The Vatican has rewritten its 2010 anti-money laundering law after European inspectors found that it did not fully meet their tough standards to combat the financing of terrorism.

WITH just a little luck, this morning’s first race in the biennial Sovereign’s Cup will have sunshine and breeze marking a return to last weekend’s champagne sailing conditions at Crosshaven during most of the ICRA championships.

The Vatican said the seizure by police of €23m from a Vatican bank account and the investigation of two top bank officials was due to a simple misunderstanding that should be clarified quickly.

AN “error of procedure” at the Vatican bank is being exploited to attack the Vatican with a money- laundering investigation, the bank’s president said in an interview published yesterday.