Italian authorities froze nearly 20 million belonging to the Vatican's bank on [September 21] in an unprecedented investigation into alleged money-laundering by the Holy See. It was the first time that such action has been taken against the bank, which is formally known as the IOR or Institute for Religious Works. Prosecutors placed the bank's director-general and its chairman under investigation in connection with two allegedly suspicious transactions which may have breached Italy's anti-money laundering laws. Investigators have spent more than a year scrutinising millions of euros of Vatican bank transactions to see if they violated regulations. The Vatican bank's chairman, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi ... was placed under investigation. He is not being investigated for laundering money but for omitting to disclose key information. The Vatican expressed the utmost confidence" in the bank's senior executives, including Mr Gotti Tedeschi. A member of the conservative religious movement Opus Dei, he has spoken out on the need for more morality in financing. Mr Gotti Tedeschi is a close adviser to Italy's finance minister, Giulio Tremonti. The IOR manages the Vatican's finances as well as the accounts of Catholic organisations and religious orders.