On 24 April, the Ukraine Anti-Corruption Action Centre, jointly with Ukrainska Prvada & GOPAC Ukraine, hosted an international conference to discuss and identify challenges relating to the recovery of assets stolen by former President Yanukovych and his associates, and thereby to initiate a (inter-) national dialogue to address these challenges. ICAR spoke on modalities for the return of stolen assets, alongside senior representatives from the Ukraine government and Canada, the European Union, Switzerland and the US, as well as specialist civil society organisations.

On April 2-9, ICAR hosted its first international workshop on the use of virtual currency to launder money. Held at the University of Basel, Switzerland, the workshop brought together public and private sector practitioners from countries such as France, Liechtenstein, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The workshop circled around a case study presented by the FBI, presentations by ICAR experts and interactive group discussions to identify particular challenges and potential solutions for law enforcement.

In an effort to increase understanding and interest in Collective Action as a tool to prevent and combat corruption through business and business-public partnerships, the ICCA trained representatives from the private and public sectors from Thailand, including Thailand’s National Anti-Corruption Commission, on available Collective Action tools and methodologies, in the course of an information session held at the International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA) in Vienna.

In mid 2014, Ms Gemma Aiofli, Head of Compliance and Corporate Governance was elected board member of Ethics and Compliance Switzerland (ECS). This newly established organisation is the first cross-industry and cross-sectorial association in Switzerland promoting ethical leadership and organizational integrity.

To date the ECS counts 14 organisational and 40 individual members. On 2 October 2014, the Basel Institute will be hosting the ECS’s kick-off meeting to discuss the development of the SME Compliance Tool Kit. The meeting is open for all interested parties.

In mid 2014, Fairtrade International appointed Dr Claudia Baez-Camargo, Head of Public Governance Research at the Basel Institute, as member of Fairtrade International’s Governance Committee.

Fairtrade International is an international non-profit, multi-stakeholder body responsible for the strategic direction for Fairtrade, setting Fairtrade standards and supporting producers. The Governance Committee oversees the governance of the association and its members with a view to making structural and procedural recommendations.

In an effort to create awareness and educate youth on corruption and related challenges, the Basel Institute is collaborating with the International Center for Policy and Conflict (Kenya) and the Institute for Social Accountability (Kenya), PAWA 254 (Kenya) and Integrity Watch (Tanzania) to develop an anti-corruption programme targeting young people in Kibera, Kenya.

The Basel Institute has been requested to provide technical expertise and support on a public governance project aimed at supporting Albania’s efforts to reform its health system (“Support to Health Reform for Inclusive Access and Better Quality of Service Program in Albania”). The Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (STPH) is spearheading the project with funding support from the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC).

The 2014 Edition of the Basel Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Index - an annual ranking that assesses country risk regarding money laundering/terrorism financing - is the third annual release published by the Basel Institute. This year’s ranking identifies Iran as the highest risk country, while Finland and Estonia are considered the lowest risk countries.

In June 2014, in the context of the Security Fund of the Swiss-Romanian Cooperation Programme, ICAR and the Superior Council of Magistracy of Romania delivered a 5-day training programme aimed at further developing the skills of members of the Romania National Anti-Corruption Directorate (NAD) to successfully investigate and prosecute international corruption and money laundering cases and recover stolen assets.

In the framework of the ANTICORRP research consortium, the Basel Institute, in collaboration with partners from four research institutions across Europe, finalized and submitted the first deliverable of the research work package 4 (WP4), The Ethnographic Study of Corruption, to the European Commission.