New IOR president discusses future of Institute

(Vatican Radio) The new president of the Institute for the Works of Religion – commonly known as the “Vatican Bank”, Jean-Baptiste de Franssu, visited the studios of Vatican Radio on Thursday morning, granting an interview to Vatican Radio’s English Section, during the course of which de Franssu paid tribute to his predecessor, Ernst von Freyberg, and discussed the coming second phase of the Institute’s internal reform process. The IOR’s new president also spoke of his desire to help strengthen the Institute’s focus on best serving its clients. Below, please find a complete transcript of Jean-Baptiste de Franssu’s conversation with Chris Altieri.

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CRA: Can you describe for us the changes in the IOR’s “mission brief” and discuss the progress of internal reform at the Institute?

J-BdF: Well, first and foremost, I think it is very important to pay tribute to the work that my predecessor, Ernst von Freyberg, has done at the bank. You know that a lot has happened over the last eighteen months, in terms of transparency, in terms of adhering to international rules and standards when it comes to financial services – and that really was done under the leadership of Ernst. So, I am coming at a time when – and that’s what we called – we  described, rather, [Wednesday, July 9th] at the press conference [at the Press Office of the Holy See]: during the press conference, we said, “There was ‘phase 1’, which was all about [zero tolerance], more transparency, more accountability – and then, we are moving to what we’ve called ‘phase 2’, where we are intending to slightly evolve the nature of the services that are being rendered to the [IOR’s] clients, to continue to strengthen our ability to service those clients, and to make sure they have access to the best products available, in order to respond to their expectations.

CRA: Who are the people and institutions that constitute the IOR’s principal clientele?

J-BdF: The major client base of the Institute are the clergy, congregations, and all the people that work in the Vatican, whether priests, archbishops, cardinals, or lay ladies and gentlemen. The broad services they get today are in terms of payment services – you know, their ordinary, day-to-day bank account – as well as their ‘wealth management’ if I can use that word, but that applies in certain cases to ‘retail’ people – lay people and clerics – but also to institutions. So, there are two types of client base that we are serving.

CRA: What does your past professional experience help you to bring to this new challenge?

J-BdF: Well, I believe my experience, notably in the field of asset management, which is where I’ve spent most of my career, is potentially a skill[set] that will be required to help us move forward during phase 2. But, I would say also, that, in the world out there, the very competitive world of financial services and asset management offering, one thing is absolutely central, and that is: to offer what is best to our clients, to put the client first – and that will certainly be something that I will be focusing [on] very hard, in the months and year to come.