Bulgaria has been undergoing a period of political instability, with five electoral cycles in the last two years. During this period, corruption has become a highly politicised topic. Efforts to curb it are now one of the most important campaign issues.
In addition, Bulgaria has the second highest levels of perceived corruption among EU member states according to Transparency International's 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index.
The Working Paper presents the results of a nationwide survey of 1,209 individuals in Bulgaria, conducted in February to early March 2023.
The survey examined how corruption is perceived in Bulgaria by different types of respondent, and what kind of behaviour is considered acceptable.
It also looked at respondents’ perceptions of anti-corruption efforts and under which circumstances they would be more likely to report corruption to the authorities.
From 15–19 May 2023, our International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR) training team was at the National Institute of Justice in Sofia, Bulgaria to deliver our flagship training on Financial Investigations and Asset Recovery. The training is a crucial element of our collaboration with the Bulgarian government to assist in combatting corruption and recovering stolen public funds.
The 7th Global Conference on Criminal Finances and Cryptocurrencies (#7CrC) will take place on 26–27 October 2023 at the Europol headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands.
It will be held in a hybrid format, with 140 spaces available for in-person attendance on each day.
The annual conference is an initiative of Europol and the Basel Institute on Governance through the joint Working Group on Criminal Finances and Cryptocurrencies formally established in 2016.
It has taken nearly 20 years, but a decision by the Swiss Federal Supreme Court has cleared the way for the return of around USD 8.5 million in corruptly obtained assets to Peru. The money to be returned is part of a complex of cases linked to Vladimiro Montesinos, Head of Intelligence under former President Alberto Fujimori.
Phyllis Atkinson has led the training team of our International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR) since 2010, having joined ICAR in 2009. The team’s work is essential to ICAR’s mission to support partner countries in developing their capabilities to investigate corruption and recover stolen assets.
The passing of a Whistleblower Protection Act in Bulgaria on 27 January 2023 was a major step forward for the country’s anti-corruption efforts. The law, which will take full effect on 17 December 2023, finally brings Bulgaria into line with the EU’s 2019 Whistleblowing Protection Directive. Now come the bigger steps: implementing it effectively and informing the public of both its provisions and its importance as an anti-corruption tool.
The art market is often described as ‘niche’. In reality, it is a significant trade industry: sales of art and antiques by dealers and auction houses reached an estimated USD 65.1 billion in 2021. And like many industries of this size, it attracts people seeking to abuse it to launder proceeds of crime or evade sanctions.
This quick guide briefly explains the unique characteristics of the art market that make it vulnerable to this type of abuse. It also outlines steps that jurisdictions can take to prevent and combat abuse of the sector for illicit purposes.
A Q&A with Mary Muthoni, who led a novel court monitoring project of our International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR) in Kenya during 2022. The aim was to identify reasons for delays in major corruption trials, as a basis for developing reforms to streamline and speed up the court process. The Court Users Committee has been highly receptive to the findings, which the team presented in March 2023.
Fifty-eight members of Ecuador’s criminal justice agencies have undergone intensive training on financial investigations and asset recovery over the last two weeks.