Mandated by the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine to assist with tracing and recovering assets stolen by the former Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych and his inner circle, and with funding from the local office of the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC), ICAR conducted a five-day training workshop in financial investigation and asset recovery for the National Prosecution Academy of Ukraine in Kyiv from 19 to 23 January 2015.
The Basel Institute is partnering with Adams Smith International (ASI), Integrity Action and other expert organisations to implement a five-year multi-component anti-corruption project in Uganda ("Strengthening Uganda's Anti-Corruption and Accountability Regime Anti-Corruption Chain”) funded by the UK Department for International Development.
The Basel Institute’s primary role will focus on providing technical support and legal advice to Uganda’s local anti-corruption authorities on matters related to asset recovery.
In a joint effort with the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs), ICAR has developed a new e-learning course for FIUs on analysing suspicious transaction reports (STRs). The course covers all stages from risk assessment of STRs, through planning and collection of information, to analysis and dissemination of intelligence to law enforcement agencies.
In 2015, experts from the International Centre for Asset Recovery conducted three training workshops in Kuwait City, as part of a one-year multi-component capacity-building programme for the Kuwait Anti-Corruption Authority (KANCOR). Subjects covered in the three workshops included: "Financial investigations and Asset Recovery", “Corruption in Infrastructure Projects and Procurement”, and “Offshore Structures and Mutual Legal Assistance”.
In an endeavour to recover assets stolen by former Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych and his close allies, the Ukraine Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) is working closely with ICAR. On 12 November 2015, Basel Institute on Governance Managing Director Gretta Fenner met with Ukraine Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin in Kyiv to take stock of the cooperation between the two bodies and re-confirm their continued commitment to work jointly towards this common goal.
AML/CFT experts of the International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR) are providing technical assistance and guidance to the Financial Intelligence Authority (FIA) of the Republic of Uganda with a view to establishing and operationalising an effective financial intelligence unit.
Specialists in international mutual legal assistance, financial investigation, intelligence gathering and asset recovery from some 30 countries and international organisations met in Lausanne from 21 to 23 February 2016 for the ‘Lausanne IX’ seminar on the efficient recovery of stolen PEP assets.
In September 2016, ICAR kicked off a new 3.5 year program of work in support of Malawi's key law enforcement agencies and their efforts to tackle serious corruption and related financial crimes. Financed with a grant from the UK Department for International Development, the program is a continuation and expansion of the already on-going work of ICAR - also funded by DFID - in Malawi, in the course of which two embedded experts were supporting Malawi authorities in the investigation and prosecution of the so-called Cashgate scandals. The latter continues to be a priority.
Analysing suspicious financial activities is a key function of Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs). To enhance the capacity of FIUs worldwide, ICAR in cooperation with the Egmont Group of FIUs has developed a unique e-learning course on “Operational Analysis”.
ICAR’s training team chose Peru to present for the first time its new specialised training course on “Advanced On-Site Training Operational Analysis”. For the delivery of this training in Peru in early June, additional country-specific elements were added. The goal of this specialized training was to strengthen the FIU's analytical and operational capacities in financial investigation.