Banking on Opus Dei

We look at the outsized influence of a small and secretive Catholic institution, Opus Dei, from Spain's dictator Franco, right up to the present day. And the bank it secretly controlled for sixty years:

"This sounds a bit like a bit of conspiracy theory but trust me, it's very real. It's in almost every major city around the world and it's quite ruthless. It's close to the Trump regime because they share a lot of common ground." ~ Gareth Gore, journalist and author

Plus: in the latest twist in the epic battle to end anonymous ownership in the United States, the US's financial regulator FinCEN has announced that only 'foreign businesses' with 'foreign owners' will now be required to report ownership information to the federal government. It's announced plans to actually delete ownership information that ‘US companies’ have already submitted. We look at the options to stop the US sliding even further into a corruption abyss:

"The US is making a commitment to stay at the back of the pack compared to the rest of the world." ~ Erica Hanichak, FACT Coalition

Co-produced by host Naomi Fowler and Leo Schick.

Transcript of the show: https://podcasts.taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Taxcast_Sept_25_Transcript-1.pdf (may not be 100% accurate)

Further Reading:

Opus: the Cult of Dark Money, Human Trafficking and Right Wing Conspiracy Inside the Catholic Church by Gareth Gore https://bookshop.org/p/books/opus-the-cult-of-dark-money-human-trafficking-and-right-wing-conspiracy-inside-the-catholic-church-gareth-gore/7b5e7a3a10fa7fa5?ean=9781668016169&digital=t

Treasury Reopens the Floodgates to Dirty Money in the U.S., FACT Coalition https://thefactcoalition.org/treasury-reopens-the-floodgates-to-dirty-money-cta/

FinCEN plans to delete data on U.S. companies from beneficial ownership database, International Consortium of Investigative Journalists https://www.icij.org/news/2025/09/fincen-plans-to-delete-data-on-u-s-companies-from-beneficial-ownership-database/

‘I became like a slave’: why 43 women are suing the secretive Opus Dei Catholic group in Argentina, the Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/apr/14/argentina-human-rights-women-opus-dei-catholic-church-exploitation-abuse-celibacy-trafficking-allegations

Press statement on a judicial process in Argentina, Opus Dei https://opusdei.org/en-uk/article/press-statement-on-a-judicial-process-in-argentina/ 

Website with more information and more Tax Justice Network podcasts https://podcasts.taxjustice.net/