The Swiss federal criminal court has approved the transfer of bank information sought by prosecutors in Italy from the account held by the Vatican bank in a decision that was made on 2 December last year. The official name of the Vatican bank is The Institute for Religious Works.

The Swiss court declined to comment on the matter to this publication or confirm details of media reports.

The Vatican bank said: "Already in 2014, all information related to the investigation in question have been submitted to the competent Vatican authorities who have in turn liaised with their Italian counterparties. In accordance with the judicial and supervisory authorities of the Vatican , the IOR re-confirms its dedication to full transparency and its will to cooperate with and Italian authorities whenever justified.”

A report said that Italian prosecutors suspect the account was used by third parties in 2007 and 2008 to launder as donations funds from the sale of a company.

The IOR had sought to invoke the Vatican’s sovereign immunity. The Swiss court did accept the principle of proportionality to prevent information not pertinent to the investigation being transferred.

Last December, it was reported that the Vatican’s top prosecutor had frozen €16 million in bank accounts, owned by two former Vatican bank managers and a lawyer, as part of an investigation into the sale of Vatican-owned real estate in the 2000s.