Lausanne IV Seminar May 2008, Lausanne, Switzerland

The Lausanne IV Seminar on Asset Recovery, “The legal procedures leading to asset recovery” was held in Lausanne, Switzerland from May 25 – 27, 2008. Over sixty asset recovery experts and practitioners from all over the world participated in the seminar. The seminar was organized by the Directorate of International Law DIL at the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA Switzerland, in collaboration with the International Centre for Asset Recovery of the Basel Institute on Governance. The successful seminar presented a great opportunity to bring asset recovery to the forefront of international cooperation in fighting corruption and repatriating stolen assets back to the countries they were stolen from. Mr Paul Seger, Director of Public International Law of the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs concluded the seminar with the following points:

The competent national authorities should proactively monitor the financial intermediaries under their jurisdiction through anti-money laundering measures. Special attention should be given to the so-called “gatekeepers” of illicit money.
In order to avoid “fishing expeditions” requesting and requested States are encouraged to identify the location of suspected criminal assets through police cooperation prior to depositing a formal MLA request. To that effect, police cooperation should be enhanced and joint investigations should be established whenever feasible and legally possible.
There exist various procedural avenues to seize, confiscate and return assets of illicit origin. Traditionally, such cases are handled through international cooperation in criminal matters which generally functions well. Other methods consist in civil confiscation or non-conviction based forfeiture. States are invited to assess their national legislation with a view to adapting their procedures to allow for an efficient handling of asset recovery requests while respecting due process.
The competent authorities are further encouraged to analyse and use admissible MLA requests they received in order to initiate their own criminal investigations against the suspected persons or entities. Experience shows that
transnational cooperation with a view to recover assets of illicit origin is facilitated (and more efficient) if both the requested and requesting States take an active interest in the matter.
Asset recovery and sharing: UNCAC requires States parties to return proceeds of corruption to requesting States. In situations not covered by UNCAC, States should consider returning illicit assets to requesting States without the requirement of a bilateral treaty. As needed, simple declarations of reciprocity should suffice.

Making international anti-corruption standards operational: Asset recovery and MLA, Regional Seminar for Asia-Pacific, 5-7 September 2007, Bali, Indonesia

The regional seminar for Asia-Pacific, organised by the Basel Institute on Governance with the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) of Indonesia, the ADB/OECD Anti-Corruption Initiative for Asia-Pacific, and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, and with the support of the German Development Cooperation (GTZ) and the US Department of State, was held in Bali, Indonesia, on 5-7 September 2007.

The seminar brought together 180 policy makers and practitioners from over 35 countries from Asia-Pacific, Africa, Europe and the Americas. It was conceived as a forum for capacity building, awareness raising and policy dialogue on the implementation of new international standards for mutual legal assistance and the repatriation of assets stolen through bribery, embezzlement and other forms of corruption. To further this goal, the seminar featured a number of plenary sessions to discuss key challenges and the legal and institutional basis for successfully enforcing anti-corruption laws and succeeding in cooperation across borders in prosecuting international bribery cases and repatriating the stolen funds. These sessions addressed formal and informal procedures to obtain international legal assistance; presented techniques for tracing, freezing, confiscating and repatriating of stolen assets; and discussed practices and procedures for seizure, confiscation and repatriation in key financial centres of Asia and the OECD region.

To strengthen the practical understanding and technical capacities of participants, the seminar further proposed three working groups to discuss past cases of asset recovery to Nigeria (Abacha case), Peru (Montesinos case) and the Philippines (Marcos case). During these case studies, practitioners that were personally involved in bringing these cases to a successful closure discussed with the participants the applicability to these particular cases of the instruments presented during the plenary sessions. Finally, the closing morning allowed experts from the major concerned stakeholder groups to analyse the findings of the seminar and discuss conclusions that could be drawn with regard the needs and priorities for the Asia-Pacific region to implement the mutual legal assistance and asset recovery provisions of UNCAC.

See also the following newspaper articles:

International Asset Recovery Seminar, September 2007, Bali, Indonesia

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 speaker papers are available.

Asset Recovery Workshop, May 2007, Basel, Switzerland

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.
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