The Partnerships for Anticorruption Global Forum 2025 takes place on 8 and 9 April 2025 in Washington, D.C. It focuses on the importance of partnerships in collectively advancing the fight against corruption.

Basel Institute colleagues are participating in the following events and look forward to meeting new and long-standing allies on the sidelines.

1. Odebrecht case 10 years on: what has been achieved and what remains to be done in the biggest corruption scandal in Latin America and the Caribbean?

8 April | 12:00–16:00 | MC 5-100

This parallel event will take stock of criminal investigations into the Lava Jato corruption scandal. Since 2016, the Brazilian multinational Odebrecht S.A. has signed various out-of-court settlements with several Latin American and Caribbean countries to resolve corruption cases involving the company and public officials. Prosecutors from different countries have identified and frozen numerous bank accounts in financial centres, judicial cooperation processes have been initiated and many senior officials, businesspeople and companies have been investigated.

What techniques, legal tools and strategies are being used in the investigation of this emblematic case? What have the results been? And in the current political climate, what might the future hold for the fight against high-level corruption?

This side event brings together experts, prosecutors and other investigators from Latin American and Caribbean countries currently working on the Lava Jato case.

During the four-hour session, Oscar Solórzano, Head of Latin America for the Basel Institute's International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR) will present on progress and setbacks in the Odebrecht investigations. He will also moderate two panels on:

• Investigating high-level public corruption: what has worked and what has not?
• Lessons learned in obtaining evidence through international cooperation.

The session will be chaired by Iker Lekuona, Director ICAR.

2. Accelerating international cooperation and asset recovery: Country experiences and lessons learned

9 April 2025 | 9:45 – 11:00 | MC4-800

This session will highlight ways to improve and accelerate international cooperation and asset recovery. Engaging in informal international cooperation prior to submitting mutual legal assistance requests and using innovative tools can overcome challenges and delays. In turn, effective asset recovery can significantly contribute to the financial resources available for development projects, particularly in countries that have been adversely affected by corruption and illicit financial flows and can create a more equitable and prosperous global economy.

The session will also focus on country experiences in tracing, confiscating and negotiating the return of proceeds of corruption. It will highlight lessons learned over the past two years from the Global Forum on Asset Recovery (GFAR) Action Series, a practitioner-focused process aimed at facilitating cooperation between requested and requesting countries, supported by the StAR Initiative, IACCC and the Basel Institute's International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR).

Speakers:

• Oscar Solórzano, Head of Latin America ICAR, Basel Institute on Governance
• Michael Petkov, Deputy Head, International Anticorruption Coordination Centre
• Alina Zhovnytska, Prosecutor at Specialized Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office, Ukraine
• Gilbert Phiri, Director of Public Prosecutions, Zambia

Moderator: Yara Esquivel, Senior Financial Sector Specialist, The World Bank Group

3. Private-sector initiatives for a clean business environment 

9 April 2025 | 16:00 – 17:00 | MC C1-100

This session will explore various initiatives aimed at promoting transparency, ethical conduct and business integrity within the private sector. It will highlight key frameworks, tools and programmes developed by national and international institutions to support business integrity. The discussion will also focus on how companies can leverage these resources to design and implement robust compliance programmes tailored to their organisational needs.

Panelists will address:

1. the common challenges businesses face in adopting clean and ethical practices, along with practical solutions to overcome these hurdles;
2. emerging trends and issues that organisations should consider staying ahead in promoting business integrity; and
3. the role of Collective Action in advancing business integrity principles.

Speakers:

• Gabriela Ocampo, Manager, Governance and Anticorruption, United Nations Global Compact
• Vanessa Hans, Head, Private Sector, Basel Institute on Governance, Switzerland
• Soji Apampa, Co-Founder/CEO, The Convention on Business Integrity, Nigeria
• Phrommet Bencharongkit, Project Director, Thai Private Sector Collective Action Against Corruption, Thailand 

Moderator: Prince Nwankwo, Counsel, Integrity Compliance Specialist, Integrity Vice Presidency, The World Bank Group

4. World Café: Non-Conviction Based Confiscation in the Context of Asset Recovery

This World Café event will explore the experiences of the Basel Institute's International Centre for Asset Recovery in promoting the use of non-conviction based confiscation and judicial cooperation in criminal matters. It will explain how these tools have made it possible to succeed in some prominent cases, mentioning challenges and opportunities along the way.

Speaker:

• Oscar Solórzano, Head of Latin America ICAR, Basel Institute on Governance