Vatican bank chief to step down amid restructure

The president and four non-executive members of the governing board of the Vatican bank are due to step down, the BBC has learned.

The move, part of a restructure of the Catholic Church's central government, will be announced on Wednesday.

Pope Francis has sought to stamp out corruption and other abuses at the bank, which handles the Church's funds.

The news comes after the bank said its profit fell to

Vatican bank clean-up wipes out profit for 2013

The Vatican bank has seen its 2013 profit almost wiped out largely due to a clean-up process which has seen it end relationships with 3,000 customers.

The bank, known officially as the Institute for Religious Works, reported a 2.9m euro (£2.3m) profit for the year, down from 86.6m euros in 2012.

Most of its losses came from the winding up of investments made before its reform programme began.

Without these, it said profit would have been 70m euros.

Pope Francis has sought to stamp out corruption and