François Pauly is set to become chairman of the Vatican Bank's supervisory board

Luxembourg banker François Pauly is set to take over as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR), the Vatican's financial institution commonly known as the "Vatican Bank".

According to information received in Rome, his appointment should be formalized at the supervisory board meeting scheduled for April 28. Until then, current president Jean-Baptiste Douville de Franssu, in office since 2014, will continue in his role.

This transition comes after more than a decade marked by a profound transformation of the IOR. The institution, which serves around 12,000 clients - including the Holy See, the Pope and various Catholic Church organizations - has embarked on a major modernization and compliance drive in recent years to strengthen its governance and international credibility.

An experienced figure in European finance

Aged 61, François Pauly has extensive experience in private banking and financial management. A graduate of ESCP Europe, he has held a number of management positions in major financial institutions, notably at Dexia, then Banque Internationale à Luxembourg, where he headed the Management Board before becoming Chairman of the Board.

He also held the position of Chief Executive Officer of the Edmond de Rothschild Group between 2021 and 2023, and is currently Chairman of Compagnie financière La Luxembourgeoise.

Alongside these responsibilities, he sits on the boards of several European financial players, and had already joined the IOR supervisory board as a member in recent years.

Continuity of governance at the Vatican

François Pauly's appointment is in line with a logic of continuity for the institution. Since 2014, the Vatican bank has been engaged in a reform process aimed at strengthening transparency, risk management and governance standards.

The arrival of an executive from European private banking is in line with this desire to consolidate the institution's financial credibility while pursuing its main mission: to manage financial resources destined for the activities of the Holy See and the Catholic Church worldwide.

This article has been automatically translated using Breeze, powered by DeepL.