In the context of the Basel Institute's partnership arrangement with the Inter-Agency Network of South Africa (ARINSA), the Institute's International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR), together with ARINSA and the Government of Botswana conducted a joint anti-money laundering (AML) workshop for prosecutors and investigators from 12-15 April 2015 in Gaborone, Botswana.
In the context of the International Centre for Asset Recovery’s (ICAR) ongoing partnership with the Asset Recovery Inter-Agency Network of South Africa (ARINSA) and the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to strengthen the capacities of partner countries to conduct investigations, trace and recover stolen assets emanating from money laundering and similar offences, ICAR, together with ARINSA and the Government of Swaziland conducted a further joint workshop for prosecutors and investigators on proceeds of crime and money laundering.
After conducting two very successful and similar workshops in financial investigation and asset recovery in Bhutan during 2014, the International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR) was invited to conduct a third such training workshop in Bhutan.
From 23 to 27 February 2015, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Asset Recovery Inter-Agency Network of South Africa (ARINSA), the Government of Uganda and the International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR) carried out a joint workshop for prosecutors, investigators and other relevant stakeholders on the recovery of proceeds of crime from wildlife and forest offences and money laundering in Entebbe, Uganda.
In early December 2014, at the invitation of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the International Center of Asset Recovery (ICAR), along with other key organisations including ARINSA, CARIN and INTERPOL, co-hosted a conference on the recovery of proceeds from wildlife and forest crimes held in Panama City, Panama.
During 2016, ICAR will be providing capacity-building workshops on financial investigation and asset recovery in India, Paraguay and Peru.
In India, ICAR will assist the country’s anti-money laundering investigating and prosecuting agency, the Ministry of Finance Enforcement Directorate (ED), to increase its capability to investigate financial crime with international links. In partnership with the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office, ICAR is planning a financial investigation training for 50 ED investigators over a two-week period.
On Friday 4 December 2015, the Basel Institute and the Government of Sri Lanka signed an agreement to strengthen collaboration in the fight against corruption and the recovery of stolen assets.
On Thursday 12 November 2015 Basel Institute on Governance Managing Director Gretta Fenner met with Ukraine Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin to take stock of the cooperation between the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) and the Basel Institute’s International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR) to recover assets stolen by former Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych and his close allies. Both parties recognised the challenges of asset recovery, and the particular challenges of asset recovery in the Ukrainian context.
On 26 and 27 October 2015, the Basel Institute’s International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR) supported the International Criminal Court (ICC) in a workshop, held at the seat of the Court in The Hague, on international cooperation and financial investigations. The workshop was supported by the Permanent Mission of the Principality of Liechtenstein to the United Nations and the European Commission and attended by experts from 13 countries and 6 international organisations.
Phyllis Atkinson, Head of Training at the International Centre for Asset Recovery gave a presentation entitled “Global Challenges in Following the Money” on 9 October 2015 at an event hosted by the Institute for Commercial Forensic Practitioners (ICFP) in Johannesburg, South Africa.