On Friday 4 December 2015, the Basel Institute and the Government of Sri Lanka signed an agreement to strengthen collaboration in the fight against corruption and the recovery of stolen assets.

Since the change in government in Sri Lanka in early 2015, the Government of Sri Lanka has engaged in wide ranged reforms of its anti-corruption law enforcement system, creating new specialised units to investigate financial crimes and strengthening existing specialised agencies. Through this newly signed agreement, the Basel Institute, through its International Centre for Asset Recovery, has committed to supporting these efforts.

In particular, the two parties will work together to advance efforts by Sri Lanka to repatriate funds that were illicitly obtained through corruption or other forms of abuse of power, and to facilitate the design and implementation of strategies and plans to obtain evidence from other jurisdictions in support of domestic prosecutions or confiscation investigations.