2010
04/07
Freedom from fear

Download the publication here (PDF).

2009
11/02
New working paper released: The Political Economy of Asset Recovery Processes

Since the mid-1990s, the fight against corruption has become an integral part of the international development agenda. Along with the growing concern about corruption, the problem of assets stolen by public officials came to the fore of the agenda. This is evidenced by a steady increase in international agreements, such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions adopted in 1997, and the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) signed in 2003. The UNCAC, in particular, includes specific mechanisms that facilitate repatriation of stolen public assets.

Since political will is the concentrated expression of powerful political and economic interests in a country, more attention must be paid to these interests when it comes to asset recovery measures. This is the aim of the working paper. By using the political economy framework, the paper identifies the political and institutional obstacles to effective policy implementation. The focus will be on the factors involved in the process of international recovery of stolen assets, although this process can and should not be analyzed separately from the broader challenge of the fight against corruption. Both these issues are interrelated and can have a significant impact on each other.

Download the working paper "The Political Economy of Asset Recovery
Processes"

2009
10/30
New working paper released: Managing Proceeds of Asset Recovery

This paper looks at the use of proceeds of asset recovered from Sani Abacha, Vladimir Montesinos, and Ferdinand Marcos and their families. It will also briefly address a much more recent case involving Kazakhstan. Repatriation of stolen monies makes available additional resources for development activities. The challenge is to ensure efficient, accountable and transparent use of such assets, given states may lack capacity or political will and that corruption may be prevalent at various levels of government. Transparency allows for better utilisation of recovered assets, and better targeting of resources into sectors that have potential to benefit the victims of corruption, who happen to be mostly the poor. Lack of effective follow up mechanisms may lead to the inappropriate allocation of resources into sectors that have little effect on alleviating poverty. The cases under review here offer lessons on how to manage repatriation and utilisation of proceeds of asset recovery. Further lessons relate to the participation of third parties and the benefits of making the results of the entire process public.

Download Working Paper "Managing Proceeds of Asset Recovery".

2008
12/20
Poverty and Corruption:About Poorer and Richer Ways of Life

by Lucy Koechlin, December 2008

> Download as PDF

2007
05/20
An Evaluation of National Integrity Systems from a Human Rights Perspective

by Lucy Koechlin

> Download as PDF (420 kb)

2007
01/20
Verhaltensregeln für die Verwaltung von Vorsorgeeinrichtungen

by Mark Pieth, Lukas Handschin, Hans-Peter Bauer, Andreas Müller, and Gretta Fenner
> Download as PDF (388 kb)

2006
05/20
Multistakeholder Initiatives to Combat Money Laundering and Bribery

by Mark Pieth
> Download as PDF (346 kb)

2003
05/20
Anti-Money Laundering: Levelling the Playing Field (Summary of a study commissioned by the Stiftung Finanzplatz Schweiz)

by Mark Pieth and Gemma Aiolfi. 
> Download as PDF (317 kb)