The Vatican’s Financial Intelligence Authority (AIF) has signed an agreement to exchange information with the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the US bank regulator, as part of its efforts improve financial transparency following a series of corruption scandals.

The Vatican’s Financial Intelligence Authority (AIF) has signed an agreement to exchange information with the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the US bank regulator, as part of its efforts to improve financial transparency following a series of corruption scandals.

The AIF said that the agreement represented a "significant" strengthening of international cooperation between the Holy See and the US.

"This is a step further in the Holy See's efforts towards perfecting a system of financial regulation and part of our commitment to transparency and international cooperation," said Rene Bruelhart, director of the AIF.

"The Holy See is part of the global family of well-regulated jurisdictions and the signing of this agreement reflects that very clearly," he added.

The AIF had previously signed cooperative agreements with banking regulators in France, Italy, Spain, Germany, and the UK, and said that it expected to make further bilateral agreements with financial supervisors and regulators in due course.

The move comes less than a month after Pope Francis controversially dismissed the five-man board of the AIF in a move reflecting his hardline approach on cleaning up Vatican finances. In an attempt to break away from the old-guard, the Vatican named four experts, including a woman for the first time, from Switzerland, Singapore, the US and Italy. The five outgoing board members had been expected to complete five-year terms ending in 2016.

The AIF was established in 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI as part of the Vatican’s attempts to comply with international standards on financial transparency and prevent a repeat of the scandals that have hit the Vatican Bank in recent years.

The Vatican has long faced questions over its accounts amid accusations of corruption and money laundering.

Bank president, Ernst von Freyberg, said last year that the institute needed to be a "well-respected member of the global financial community".

Over the past four years, the Vatican City State has continuously strengthened its laws and the regulatory framework under which it operates.

Last August, a new decree by Pope Francis gave the Vatican's internal watchdog increased powers over the Vatican Bank and its financial activities.

These measures tightened safeguards against money laundering, as well as improving internal regulations and establishing a new financial security committee to coordinate the anti-corruption effort.

In June 2013, senior cleric Nunzio Scarano was arrested with two others on suspicion of trying to illegally move €20 million into Italy from Switzerland.

Last October, the Vatican Bank published its first annual report in its 125-year history. The bank said in a statement that net profit for 2012 was €86.6 million ($117.1 million), up from €20.3 million in 2011.

The Vatican Bank, also known as the Institute for the Works of Religion, is a privately-held institute located inside Vatican City. Regarded as one of the most secretive banks in the world, it is run by an advisory board that reports directly to a committee of cardinals and the Pope.