The Financial Supervision and Information Authority (ASIF), the Holy See’s anti-money laundering body, continues to strengthen its international projection following the deep reform approved by Leo XIV just a few weeks ago.
On 17 July, it signed a memorandum of understanding with the Deutsche Bundesbank, Germany’s central bank, to enhance technical cooperation between the two institutions in financial supervision.
The agreement marks the first significant international move since the new ASIF Statute came into force.
The reform, enacted by a Papal Chirograph and effective since the end of June, abolished the Presidency and the Board of Directors established in 2020, concentrated the agency’s governance in a single director appointed by the Pope, and transferred its accountability to the Council for the Economy.
The new structure raised questions about the effective independence of the Vatican’s financial supervisor, a key element for its credibility with international bodies.
Cooperation with the German central bank
The memorandum was signed at the Vatican’s Palazzo San Carlo by ASIF Director Federico Antellini Russo and Burkhard Balz, a member of the Deutsche Bundesbank’s Executive Board.
According to the Holy See, the agreement aims to consolidate cooperation between the two institutions through training programmes, the exchange of experiences and best practices in financial supervision.
The goal is to strengthen transparency, integrity and sustainability in the international financial system, as well as to deepen collaboration between the Vatican’s supervisory authority and the central bank of the European Union’s largest economy.
During the ceremony, Balz stated that the signing of the memorandum reaffirms “the shared commitment to the principles of integrity, transparency and international cooperation” and provides “a framework for continuous exchange and mutual support,” with the aim of contributing to the common good through “a stable and fair financial system.”
The new ASIF’s first international initiative
In his remarks, ASIF Director Federico Antellini Russo placed the agreement within the new phase opened by Leo XIV’s reform.
“The signing of this memorandum of understanding takes place in the fifteenth anniversary year of the Authority’s creation and just weeks after the entry into force of the new Statute of the Financial Supervision and Information Authority, promulgated by His Holiness Pope Leo XIV,” he noted.
Antellini Russo emphasised that these milestones offer an opportunity to take stock of the path travelled, but above all “to look to the future with confidence,” and expressed his hope that cooperation with the Bundesbank will continue to grow stronger and closer.
International credibility remains at the centre of debate
In the communiqué issued by the Vatican, the ASIF maintains that the agreement has been made possible by the Holy See’s commitment to strengthening its financial architecture in line with international standards.
The agency asserts that the reforms undertaken in recent years have reinforced transparency, accountability and the professionalisation of its structures, thereby increasing its credibility within the international financial community.
It was precisely this credibility that became a focal point of the debate sparked by the new ASIF Statute.
Although the text expressly proclaims the Authority’s autonomy and independence, the abolition of the President and the Board of Directors, together with the concentration of governance in a single director and the assignment of budgetary oversight and accountability functions to the Council for the Economy, raised questions about the institutional architecture of the financial supervisor.
Cooperation with the Bundesbank therefore comes at a particularly significant moment for the ASIF.
While the Vatican seeks to consolidate the confidence of international bodies tasked with evaluating its supervision and anti-money laundering mechanisms, the practical implementation of the reform driven by Leo XIV will be closely watched both inside and outside the Holy See.
Also present at the signing of the memorandum were Monsignor Mihăiţă Blaj, Under-Secretary of the Section for Relations with States and International Organisations of the Secretariat of State, and Christoph Braner, Minister Plenipotentiary at the German Embassy to the Holy See.