The serendipity of my editorial on why Italy and the Vatican must sign a tax sharing deal - followed by the two doing just that....

On March 23, I wrote the "Featured Perspective" for Tax Notes International, a newsletter to tax professionals, from accountants to lawyers to CFOs to government treasury ministers.  Titled "The Vatican Bank:  Are the Bad Old Days Finally Over?"

It focused on ongoing negotiations between the Vatican and Italy to reach a historic tax exchange agreement (TIEA).  That is something that would make it much more difficult for the Vatican Bank to continue to operate as a tax haven for wealthy Italians.   In my article I disclosed that "in private" some top Italian "finance officials and criminal tax prosecutors left little doubt that they were frustrated by the extent to which the Vatican Bank has proven an entrenched and vexing headache."

Citing three reports from 2000-2001 that concluded the Vatican Bank was in the top 10 "most attractive countries for money launderers," one study concluded "that a staggering $55 billion just in illegal Italian money went through the Vatican Bank annually."