“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.

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?

The fight against criminal misuse of cryptoassets enters its next chapter.

Join us on 15–16 September 2026 for the 10th Global Conference on Criminal Finances and Cryptoassets – held this year in Luxembourg at the European Convention Centre and online.

This landmark edition will be hosted by Luxembourg’s Bureau de gestion des avoirs (BGA), alongside the Basel Institute on Governance, Europol and UNODC as co-organisers.

By J. Edward (Ned) Conway, Executive Secretary, The Wolfsberg Group

As virtual assets move into the mainstream of traditional finance, tricky questions arise. What does a reasonable, risk-based control framework look like for banks that provide services to virtual asset service providers (VASPs)? And how can compliance teams strengthen private-to-private information sharing to better detect suspicious activity?