We are pleased to launch the Basel Institute on Governance’s Annual Report 2025, highlighting how our teams and partners turned a year of profound disruption into practical action against corruption and financial crime.

From record asset recoveries and landmark enforcement outcomes to locally led governance reforms, business integrity initiatives and new approaches to emerging risks, the report reflects the breadth of our work across more than 18 country teams worldwide.

In the foreword below, our President Peter Maurer and Executive Director Elizabeth Andersen reflect on the changing global anti-corruption landscape, the resilience of the movement and why our mission is more important than ever.

Turning challenges into action

The anti-corruption landscape changed dramatically in 2025, as the United States stepped back from its role as a global standard-bearer for anti-corruption and good governance. The U.S. continued support for some international enforcement efforts, particularly associated with transnational organised crime.

But it shuttered most international anti-corruption programmes with the closing of USAID, announced a deprioritisation of prosecution of foreign bribery, and assumed an increasingly transactional approach to international relations that downplayed governance concerns.

The result, characterised by many as an end to the rules-based international order, has raised significant questions about the future of global efforts to promote and enforce anti-corruption and good governance norms.

At the Basel Institute on Governance, the answer is clear. Our work is more important now than ever. Our experience of the past year has validated the Institute’s longstanding approach, focused on empowering partners through hands-on support that produces real, sustainable change. And we are highly motivated to meet today’s challenges with creativity, innovation and resilience.

In 2025, historic declines in overseas development assistance reinforced the imperative to safeguard public resources from corruption and recover the proceeds of financial crime and corruption for reinvestment in social goods. At the Institute, we redoubled our efforts toward these ends.

• We worked with partners to protect investments in health in Albania, humanitarian assistance in Malawi, education in Peru and reconstruction, transport, energy and defence in Ukraine, to name a few.
• Our International Centre for Asset Recovery contributed to the return of a record USD 65.2 million to partner countries, while our Green Corruption programme supported partners in a number of “first-ever” law enforcement wins in the fight against environmental crime.
• And our Prevention, Research and Innovation team advanced novel methods to target the social norms underlying corrupt behaviour and ensure that anti-corruption initiatives achieve lasting impact.

Experience of the past year has also highlighted the benefits of the Institute’s approach to advancing business integrity. The U.S. decision to deprioritise global anti-bribery enforcement raised concerns of a new race to the bottom that would disadvantage companies refusing to pay bribes. The Institute’s work to advance anti-corruption Collective Action offered businesses an effective response – a proven strategy to build and sustain a level playing field where all stakeholders in a given market or sector commit to and uphold integrity best practices. In 2025, we studied more than 340 initiatives on our online Collective Action Hub to glean lessons learned and provide practical guidance for companies grappling with the shifting compliance landscape.

We have been encouraged to see the resilience of the anti-corruption movement in the face of significant headwinds. The United Kingdom, France and Switzerland announced a new joint task force to strengthen their enforcement efforts. The Basel Institute welcomed this initiative and encouraged them to go further. In two working papers and engagement with policymakers, we made the case for repurposing the settlement payments from foreign bribery cases to support anti-corruption reforms.

2025 also saw signs of hope in the streets and at the ballot box, as protestors fed up with corruption and mismanagement generated political transitions in countries across the globe. The Basel Institute stands ready to provide swift support for partners in these transitional moments, which are important windows of opportunity to implement sustainable anti-corruption reforms. In 2025 alone, we launched programmes in support of new governments pursuing accountability and reform in Ghana, Bangladesh, Madagascar and Sri Lanka.

Looking forward, we are focused on bringing our expertise to bear on new global corruption challenges, from the race for critical minerals to the surge in defence spending and the transformative effects of crypto and AI. The Institute is developing new initiatives to address the risks and seize the opportunities arising in each of these areas.

In sum, there is no denying that developments in 2025 sent shockwaves through the global anti-corruption movement. But, with inspiration from those like the brave Ukrainian citizens who in July 2025 took to the streets of Kyiv to successfully defend the independence of their anti-corruption agencies, our movement is rising to the occasion.

At the Basel Institute, we are proud to do our part. We are enormously grateful for the sustained support of our donors, who understand the foundational importance of integrity and good governance. We have great admiration for the perseverance of our partners in government agencies, businesses and civil society organisations across the globe. And we look forward to your feedback on the work described in this report and to working together to take these efforts forward in the year ahead.