A 2021 audit of the Holy See’s sovereign asset manager said it was an “urgent” issue that APSA lacked basic risk management controls, had no long term planning function, and operated on opaque investment policies.
The report, delivered by the Holy See’ Financial Information and Supervisory Authority, came shortly before a 2022 order from Pope Francis, which transferred management of the Vatican’s assets from APSA to the IOR, the Vatican City bank. That order was repealed by Pope Leo earlier this month.
The report also flagged APSA’s lack of external expertise and centralized governance structure and recommended that it be reformed to more closely mirror the IOR.
That order was revoked earlier this month by Pope Leo XIV, who restored APSA’s autonomy.
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