Basel LEARN: free courses on financial investigation, asset tracing, intelligence gathering and more

Monica Guy

Team Lead, Communications and External Relations
+41 61 205 55 12
Biography

Our online learning platform, Basel LEARN, offers a collection of free self-paced eLearning courses. They are developed to help law enforcement, anti-money laundering and compliance professionals gain new skills to fight financial crime.

The interactive modules help you to “learn by doing” – for example, by completing tasks in a simulated investigation. After successfully completing a course, you will be awarded a Certificate of Completion.

Courses available:

Authorities step up action on “green corruption” in Bolivia as new global programme launches

A high-level meeting in La Paz, Bolivia brought together senior government officials and international partners to address a key driver of environmental crime: corruption. The event was one of the first public activities under the Basel Institute on Governance’s new UK-funded programme, “Building a global network to prevent biodiversity-related corruption.”

Participating authorities signed a joint declaration to strengthen integrity and prevent “green corruption” in the management of natural resources. 

Where asset recovery really happens: Peru advances landmark restitution initiative

“These administrative steps are where asset recovery really happens… when dirty assets are transformed into resources that support law enforcement and serve the public good.”

With these words, Oscar Solórzano, Head of Latin America at the Basel Institute on Governance, captured the often unseen but transformative impact of asset recovery. 

His remark follows a high-level meeting in Peru marking the final phase of a pioneering international agreement.

Case Study 14: Madagascar: a landmark conviction for money laundering linked to environmental crime

Mirella Mahlstein

Specialist, Publishing and Communications
+41 61 205 55 12
Biography

This Case Study demonstrates how international cooperation and the follow-the-money approach revealed a transnational criminal network trafficking endangered species and led to Madagascar’s first money laundering conviction related to wildlife trafficking.

Key points:

Policy Brief 16: Enforcing foreign non-conviction based forfeiture orders

Mirella Mahlstein

Specialist, Publishing and Communications
+41 61 205 55 12
Biography

FATF standards and asset recovery practice in Latin America and financial centres

This Policy Brief analyses emerging international standards aimed at addressing recurring challenges in judicial practice with regard to the enforcement of non-conviction based forfeiture orders issued by foreign states. It focuses in particular on the historical absence of a binding obligation on requested states to cooperate in such cases and, where cooperation is available, on the structural tension between direct and indirect enforcement models.

Recommendations for combatting border corruption (FALCON Policy Brief)

Mirella Mahlstein

Specialist, Publishing and Communications
+41 61 205 55 12
Biography

Corruption at borders poses a significant threat to the integrity of the European Union’s external borders, undermining security, trust, and governance. And border corruption is not static — it evolves in response to new controls, technologies and enforcement strategies. This means that even well-designed measures may lose effectiveness over time.

A new Policy Brief by the FALCON (Fight Against Large-scale Corruption and Organised Crime Networks) project outlines actionable recommendations for EU policymakers and officials involved preventing and combatting border corruption.

Corruption is a complex, adaptive network. What does this mean for anti-corruption policy and practice?

Corruption is not just a collection of isolated acts by individuals. It is a complex, adaptive system that evolves in response to efforts to control it. And seeing it this way opens up new possibilities to tackle it more effectively.

This was the central message of a recent Basel Institute on Governance research webinar exploring how corruption evolves and what this means for designing interventions that remain effective over time.

INTERPOL Silver Notices: Speeding up the tracing of criminal assets

Criminal assets can cross borders in hours, while international asset recovery often struggles to keep pace. The INTERPOL Silver Notice is designed to close this gap by enabling earlier identification and tracing of criminal assets across jurisdictions. Can this new instrument fundamentally change how law enforcement responds to the rapid flight of illicit wealth?