René Brülhart, the well-respected financial intelligence guru, is to step down from his post as the head of Vatican City's regulatory agency at the end of the month. The reason for the Pope's decision not to renew his contract is unknown, but many speculate that it has to do with a financial scandal that led to his offices being raided last month.

The Egmont Group of financial intelligence units, which covers the whole world, has reportedly blocked the Vatican's Financial Information Authority or AIF from looking at suspicious activity reports from other countries. Considering its continuing willingness to allow Italian authorities to do this, despite the fact that the Italian police are influenced by organised crime, this is indeed a humiliation.

Brülhart, a Swiss lawyer by trade, has been the Vatican's chief regulator since 2014; before that he ran Liechtenstein's financial intelligence unit. Shortly after he resigned, another board member named Marc Odendall, a Swiss-German retired banker, followed suit. Another board member, Tommaso Di Ruzza, was suspended from his job last month after the raid. Vatican officials are now dreading a visit by MONEYVAL, Europe's FATF-style regional body, next year.