A fresh agreement between the Office of the Prosecutor General (OPG) in Ukraine and the Basel Institute on Governance, signed in Kyiv on 2 February 2021, sets the stage for a continued fruitful cooperation on the country’s asset recovery efforts.

The agreement supports the efforts of the OPG to recover assets belonging to Ukraine that were illegally appropriated by former high-ranking officials and related individuals and legal entities.

Smart use of technology, concerted cooperation both across and within sectors, and information sharing on risks and risky actors are key to combating the rampant trade in illegal goods, including wildlife, minerals and forest products.

These were strong takeaways of a virtual discussion on illicit trade and natural resources on hosted by the OECD and Green Corruption team of the Basel Institute on Governance on 27 January 2021.

Collective Action is at the heart of the new Strategy 2021–23 of the United Nations Global Compact, an ambitious corporate sustainability initiative that supports companies around the world in achieving sustainable and responsible business operations throughout their supply chains.

We are delighted to welcome Liechtenstein as an inaugural core donor to our Green Corruption programme.

The programme applies anti-corruption, follow-the-money and governance approaches to critical issues of environmental degradation. Liechtenstein’s support and endorsement are particularly valuable as we ramp up and expand the programme, building on a strong base of evidence and experience gained through our efforts in the last years to tackle financial crime in illegal wildlife trade.

An interview with Gilbert Sendugwa, Senior Regional Manager Africa of the Uganda chapter of CoST – the Infrastructure Transparency Initiative. He gives an insight into a recent UK Business Integrity Initiative-funded project on “Promoting fair business practices between the government and the private sector".

Please join us and our partners at the OECD on 27 January at 13:00 CET for a multi-disciplinary panel discussion on illicit trade in natural resources.

The event is part of the Corrupting the environment monthly dialogue series, which explores creative solutions to burning issues of environmental degradation through the lens of financial crime and illicit trade.

We are delighted to have been selected by the B20 Italy 2021 Integrity and Compliance Task Force as a Network Partner.

This will enable us to bring to the table our many years of expertise in anti-corruption Collective Action and other novel approaches to private-sector integrity and compliance.

Our partners and team of asset recovery specialists in Mozambique are celebrating the entry into force of a new law on asset recovery. It significantly extends Mozambique’s capability to recover illicit assets arising from corruption and other criminal activity.

How can local certification of small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) help to alleviate anti-corruption due diligence for SMEs as well as multinational corporations (MNC) seeking to work with them?

A new Working Paper by the Basel Institute's Collective Action team attempts to answer that question, which is of real practical relevance to businesses around the world. The paper offers six clear recommendations to practitioners based on discussions and analysis of current local certification initiatives in different countries and sectors.