The Institute for Works of Religion, the Vatican’s for-profit retail bank, won a sweeping court decision in Malta, the bank announced on Friday.
The decision came in a long-running case, which began with a dispute between the bank and investment managers over a project to invest in and then sell a marquee building in Budapest.
The IOR and development managers have been suing each other for nearly a decade over the bank’s efforts to withdraw from the project.
The court awarded the Vatican bank €24 million while dismissing all counter claims against it brought by four parties connected to the property development investment scheme.
In a Nov. 6 press statement, the IOR said that the “judgment clarifies the facts, confirms that the Institute acted properly and refutes the arguments put forward by the opposing parties.”
The court ordered Optimum Evolution Fund SIF, Optimum Asset Management S.A., Futura Investment Management Limited and Futura Funds SICAV plc. to pay the IOR €24.1 million, and attached an 8% rate of interest on the sum from the date of the judgment, amounting to nearly half a million euros in three months and almost 2 million by the end of a year.
The decision was the first ruling on the merits of the case which began nearly a decade ago and which saw a 2020 court order for the seizure of Vatican bank assets totalling nearly €30 million, and investment managers sought to enforce further capitalization of the project by the IOR.