From 16 to 20 January 2017, experts from the Basel Institute’s International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR) conducted the first training workshop in the Train-the-Trainer programme for the Prevention and Combatting of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Firstly there needs to be the desire, both in terms of public consensus as well as at governmental level, though some could argue these should be one and the same in an ideal world. Subsequently, the rule of law underlines the principles of a democratic government and there is no scope, in most cases, to deviate from the law, however damning the circumstances might be.

The Basel Institute on Governance welcomes the recent decisions by courts in Luxembourg and Switzerland to return almost USD 17 million to Peru in cases related to the regime of former Peruvian President Fujimori. We congratulate the involved authorities in Peru, Luxembourg and Switzerland for the successful conclusion of these 15-year old cases. We are honoured to have been able to support this successful outcome.

The Basel Institute on Governance welcomes the successful conclusion of a case of asset recovery involving the UK and Kenya. The assets in the amount of £2,222,957 were confiscated by Mr Recorder Andrew Mitchel QC in the case of R v Smith and Ouzman. The UK authorities decided that an amount of £349,057.39 should be used to purchase specialised ambulances that were formally handed over to the Kenyan Government on 17 March. The purchase of ambulances with the returned assets meets urgent needs in the Kenyan health care delivery system.

The Lausanne Process consists of seminars (Lausanne seminars) addressed to practitioners in the field of asset recovery. Switzerland has been hosting them regularly since 2001. Experience has shown that close cooperation between the countries involved, particularly at the judicial level, that is at the stage of mutual legal assistance, is of key importance for the successful restitution of such funds. The Lausanne seminars are intended to transfer practical knowledge and to help strengthen international cooperation and coordination between requesting and requested states.

The Basel Institute on Governance and the Peruvian Judiciary organized a training seminar on anti-corruption and asset recovery aimed at building capacity in innovative methods to fight cross border corruption. The four day training is the first of a series of capacity building events requested by the Peruvian authorities and was delivered to the recently installed unit of judges specialized in corruption of public officials, created by the judicial authorities to deal with the Odebrecht scandal.

On 28 April, Kenya's Attorney General’s Office and the Swiss Federal Office of Justice signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on international mutual assistance in criminal matters in Nairobi. The MOU will facilitate the cooperation between the two countries in investigating and prosecuting international corruption and other financial crimes.

Windward Trading, a company registered in Jersey, pleaded guilty yesterday, on 24 February 2016, to four counts of money laundering at Jersey's Royal Court. A confiscation order was granted amounting to GBP 3.6 million and discussions are underway between the Government of Kenya, Jersey authorities and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom as to the repatriation of these assets.

In order to tackle the widespread corruption in Bulgaria, the Centre for the Study of Democracy, a Bulgarian inter-disciplinary public policy institute, has partnered with the Basel Institute to provide technical assistance, under the Bulgarian Thematic Fund Security Project “Overcoming institutional capacity gaps to counter corruption and organized crime in Bulgaria”.

On 24 May 2017, the Basel Institute on Governance and the Anti-Corruption Commission of Bhutan signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Both parties reconfirmed their mutual intention to continue to strengthen and promote their combined efforts to prevent and combat corruption in Bhutan.