The conference on the Protection of the Financial Interests of the EU and Switzerland, organised by the European Academy of Law (ERA) and the Basel Institute on Governance with the financial support of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), was successfully concluded today in Basel. The conference addressed challenges and opportunities for law enforcement and the financial industry arising from the new tools of cooperation to combat fraud between the EU and Switzerland, such as the Anti-Fraud Agreement and the Schengen Association Treaty. Read various media reports about the conference. Further documentation will be available soon.

Im Rahmen des sechsten Symposiums der Schweizerischen Gesundheitszusammenarbeit (Basel, 6. November 2007) zum Thema "Im öffentlichen Interesse. Nichtstaatliche Gesundheitseinrichtungen und nationales Gesundheitssystem" diskutierte Lucy Koechlin vom Basel Institute on Governance Fragen der Rechenschaftspflicht und ethischer Verhaltensstandards für non-profit Organisationen. > Presentation > further information

During 17-28 September 2007, representatives of the ICAR undertook an intermediate training programme on asset recovery with members of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the Attorney General’s Office (AGO). The ICAR team consisted of Alan Bacarese, Tom Lasich, Hari Mulukutla, Yara Esquivel and Andrea Poelling and was supported by international experts such as Mathew Joseph from the Attorney General’s Chambers Singapore and Alan Perry from Kendall Freeman Solicitors London. The training contained both practical and instructional sessions on law enforcement practice in the field of asset tracing and recovery and looked in detail at lessons learnt from a number of leading international cases. For further information please contact Alan Bacarese.

On 15 and 16 May 2007, the International Centre for Asset Recovery of the Basel Institute on Governance (ICAR), in cooperation with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) hosted a workshop in Basel, Switzerland, on Implementing the Asset Recovery Provisions of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC). The summary of recommendations provide useful insight into some of the most pressing reform and assistance needs to increase the success rate in recovering stolen assets.

The Basel Institute on Governance, in cooperation with the Corruption Eradication Commission of Indonesia, the ADB/OECD Anti-Corruption Initiative for Asia-Pacific, and UNODC, and supported by the German Development Cooperation GtZ and the US State Department, organised an international seminar on asset recovery and mutual legal assistance in Bali, Indonesia, from 5-7 September 2007. Background documents and speakers papers are available now.

In cooperation with the «Europa Institut» of the Zurich University a conference on Accounting, Auditing and Compliance in Corporate Groups will take place on 8 November 2007 in Zurich. The conference is chaired by Prof. Dr. Lukas Handschin, who is also a member of the Basel Institute's Board.

This is the result of an MoU signed between the Basel Institute on Governance and UNODC. The MoU defines terms of collaboration to provide technical assistance to developing countries in combating corruption, particularly with regard to asset recovery, and to cooperate on related research projects and on the development of a comprehensive online database to support asset recovery efforts worldwide.

We are pleased to announce that Tom Lasich has joined the Institute's International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR) as of 5 July 2007. A graduate of the University of Santa Clara (California) with a degree in Finance, Tom brings with him extensive experience in money laundering and other criminal investigations and asset tracing and financial investigation techniques. Tom has further developed, coordinated and taught training programs throughout the Americas, Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

Mark Pieth, Zora Ledergerber  and Gretta Fenner of the Basel Institute on Governance have authored the chapter "The international dimensions of judicial accountability" of the Global Corruption Report 2007 on Corruption in Judicial Systems. The full report, published by Cambridge University Press and Transparency International, can be downloaded free of charge on the TI website.

The Basel Institute on Governance assists in organising the upcoming Anti-corruption Summit – “How to effectively manage corporate ethics and compliance” (Amsterdam, 3-4 Oct 2007). The event is due to attract many of corporate Europe’s leading authorities on the subject, including Mark Pieth (OECD Working Group on Bribery), Jonathan Hoak (Hewlett Packard), Pascale Dubois (World Bank), Martin Montes (Wal-Mart), Ian Stopps (Lockheed Martin UK), and Enery Quinones, (European Bank of Reconstruction).

Drohendes Debakel im Fall Duvalier. - Die zögerliche Rückgabe von Potentatengeldern stellte lange ein Reputationsrisiko für den Schweizer Finanzplatz dar. Mit der Rückführung dreistelliger Millionenbeträge in den Fällen Marcos und Abacha, der Rechtshilfe in Sachen Montesinos und im Fall Kasachstan schien sich das Blatt gewendet zu haben. Nun droht im Fall Duvalier ein Rückfall.

There is a growing awareness that funds embezzled by corrupt officials must be recovered for the countries that have been victimized. While there are significant challenges to such efforts, recent developments, e.g. the return of USD 84 mio in confiscated bribery funds to Kazakhstan, are encouraging. Two consecutive meetings in Basel promoted coordination among international donor efforts in this regard (14 May 2007) and sought to identify reform needs in North and South to further improve the success rate in asset recovery (15-16 May 2007), respectively.

The conclusions and the background documents for the Belgrade Transparency Days 2007, organized jointly by the Anti-Corruption Council of Serbia, the Swiss Embassy in Belgrade and the Basel Institute on Governance, are now available. This event took place in Belgrade on March 6 and 7 2007 and was dedicated to the role of Supreme Audit Institutions in combating corruption and enhancing transparency in public finance management.

An informative paper on asset recovery titled "The Recovery of Stolen Assets: A Fundamental Principle of the UN Convention Against Corruption", authored by the Basel Institute on Governance's International Centre for Asset Recovery (Jack Smith, Mark Pieth and Guillermo Jorge), has just been published by U4.
> Download as PDF (153 kb)
> Visit the related U4 webpage 

The Wolfsberg Group, in close association with the Basel Institute on Governance and Transparency International, has today issued its Statement against Corruption to describe the role of the Wolfsberg Group and financial institutions more generally in support of international efforts to combat corruption. The Statement against Corruption identifies some of the measures financial institutions may consider in order to prevent corruption in their own operations and protect themselves against the misuse of their operations in relation to corruption.

To achieve compliance with the UN Convention against Corruption, the Corruption Eradication Commission of Indonesia commissioned a study to identify gaps between the Convention and Indonesia's current legal and institutional framework to combat corruption. This study, developed by the Basel Institute on Governance in cooperation with Indonesian experts, is now available for download.