A blog by Meraal Hakeem, a law student at the Arizona State University who is undertaking a legal research internship at the Basel Institute on Governance.
In the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the United States’ Department of Justice launched “Task Force KleptoCapture” in March 2022 to enhance its capacity to enforce sanctions and target assets suspected of bolstering the Russian regime.
In an article published in the inaugural issue of the Bulletin of The International Academy of Financial Crime Litigators, Oscar Solorzano and Gretta Fenner analyse a recent decision of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court, which cleared the way for returning funds tied to corruption to Peru. The decision sets an important precedent for the use of non-conviction based forfeiture laws to recover illicit assets in the absence of a criminal conviction. This is a crucial step in the fight against global corruption.
Registration is now open for the 7th Global Conference on Criminal Finances and Cryptocurrencies (#7CrC). The conference will take place on 26–27 October 2023 at the Europol headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands.
The hybrid conference explores trends, strategies and tactics in tackling crimes involving virtual assets. A joint initiative of the Basel Institute on Governance and Europol, the annual event now draws hundreds of experts and interested parties from around the world.
Jersey recently announced the successful conclusion of a 10-year asset recovery case against an Indonesian company director convicted of fraud, embezzlement and money laundering, and which involved a luxury apartment in Singapore held through a Jersey trust. H.M.
Bulgaria’s recent political settlement following five consecutive snap elections ended the political deadlock with the establishment of a government led by two rotating Prime Ministers. Nikolay Denkov of the We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (PP-DB) coalition will serve as the Prime Minister the first nine months, followed by former European Commissioner for Innovation of the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) Maria Gabriel.
Mozambique is moving towards the introduction of a new civil confiscation law that would enable the forfeiture of proceeds of crime outside of criminal proceedings.
Mozambique’s Minister of Justice, Constitutional and Religious Affairs and Deputy Attorney General co-chaired a high-level international seminar on the topic in the Mozambican capital Maputo on 3–4 July 2023.
On 2–4 August 2023, the International Congress on "Business Management and Economic Criminal Law: Corporate Crimes and Compliance in Ibero-America" will take place in Quito, Ecuador.
This event is organised by the DDC Foundation in Ecuador, the Observatory of Transnational Organized Crime at the University of Salamanca (Spain) and the Study Center of Economic Criminal Law and Business (Peru). It is supported by the University of San Francisco (Ecuador) and the United States Embassy in Ecuador. The Basel Institute is one of several collaborating organisations.
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the wide-reaching sanctions which ensued, many Western financial institutions began to de-risk Russian clients. Dealing with Russian clients, in many cases, has become expensive from a compliance point of view and toxic from the reputational side.
However, the de-risking of unsanctioned Russian individuals may have a significant impact on the fight against financial crime by potentially causing:
We are delighted to have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Prosecution Authority of Zambia. The MoU, which covers support for Zambia’s efforts to fight corruption and recover stolen assets, was signed in Zambia’s capital Lusaka on 28 June 2023.
Shell companies, trusts and other corporate structures allow criminals to hide their illicit money abroad, often in offshore financial centres with poor beneficial ownership transparency. Officers seeking to investigate and prosecute transnational corruption cases need to understand these structures and how to cooperate with foreign jurisdictions.