Pope sacks entire Vatican financial watchdog board

Pope Francis has dismissed the five-man board of the Vatican's financial watchdog in a break with the corruption scandals that have engulfed the heart of the Catholic Church in the past.

Four new experts from Switzerland, Singapore, the United States and Italy will replace the all-Italian board of the Financial Information Authority (AIF). The outgoing members were due to serve five-year terms until 2016 and were associated with the Vatican's discredited financial old guard.

Reformers inside the Vatican had been pushing for the Pope to appoint professionals with an international background to work with Rene Bruelhart, a Swiss lawyer who heads the AIF and who has been pushing for change.

"Bruelhart wanted a board he could work with and it seems the pope has come down on his side and sent the old boy network packing," a Vatican source told Reuters.

The Vatican Bank, known by its Italian initials IOR (Istituto per le Opere di Religione), has been accused in the past of offering services to mob bosses and tax dodgers when only priests, nuns, religious orders and Vatican staff are allowed to open accounts.

In January, Pope Francis shook up the Vatican Bank's board by replacing four of the five supervisory members just six months after he sacked the institution's director and deputy director.

After months of speculation that the bank may close as part of a drive to clean up the Vatican's murky finances, the Pope gave it his backing in April.

“The IOR will continue to serve with prudence and provide specialized financial services to the Catholic Church worldwide,” the Vatican said in a statement at the time.

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