Maltese Court orders seizure of €29.5m of assets belonging to 'Vatican Bank'

The Maltese Civil Court has ordered the seizure of €29.5m of assets belonging to the Istituto per le Opere di Religione (IOR, or Institute for the Works of Religion), commonly referred to as the "Vatican Bank." The order came after Maltese companies Futura Funds and Futura Investment Management, jointly with Luxembourg-based company Cougar Real Estate, instituted court proceedings before Malta's Civil Courts against the IOR. The Maltese and Luxembourgish firms are seeking damages for IOR's alleged blocking of a sale of shares which Futura Funds SICAV holds in Cougar, as well as the sa...