The International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR) welcomes the signing earlier this week by Kenya and Switzerland of the Framework for the Return of Assets from Corruption and Crime in Kenya (FRACCK).

The FRACCK sets out good practices in relation to the return of stolen assets, including transparency and accountability, and encourages the use of returned assets to advance sustainable development and benefit the civilian population.

These are principles for which ICAR has been advocating since asset recovery was made a fundamental principle of international law under the UN Convention against Corruption in 2005. Indeed, they formed the core of the findings during one of the first international expert workshops on asset return that was co-hosted by ICAR and the Swiss Federal Department for Foreign Affairs in 2013. Following events on asset return, including those co-hosted by Switzerland and Ethiopia and by the Global Forum on Asset Recovery, repeatedly highlighted the same principles.

The FRACCK is designed as a multi-partite agreement and is therefore open for signature by other jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom and Jersey which have indicated they intend to join the FRACCK in the near future. We hope it will serve as a good practice example for other asset recovery partner countries and will feed into on-going international processes to develop guidelines for the return of stolen assets.

ICAR is looking forward to continue working with Kenya, one of our longest-standing partner countries, to bring to a conclusion the Anglo Leasing case and other international asset recovery cases, so that the FRACCK can be applied to return stolen assets for the benefit of Kenya’s people.