Vatican financial watchdog now a 'shell' after police raid

A board member of the Vatican's financial watchdog has resigned in the wake of a Vatican police raid that resulted in the agency's suspension from the global communications network of financial intelligence units.

Marc Odendall, a French German banker, tendered his resignation late Monday after Pope Francis decided not to renew the mandate of Rene Bruelhart, the president of the Vatican's Financial Information Authority, or AIF. The Vatican says Bruelhart's successor will be announced next week.

Odendall told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he cited Bruelhart's removal as well as the decision by the Egmont Group, a consortium of financial information agencies from 130 countries, to suspend AIF from its communications network following the October 1 Vatican police raid on AIF's offices.

"We cannot access information and we cannot share information," he said. "There is no point in staying on the board of an empty shell."