FATF standards and asset recovery practice in Latin America and financial centres

This Policy Brief analyses emerging international standards aimed at addressing recurring challenges in judicial practice with regard to the enforcement of non-conviction based forfeiture orders issued by foreign states. It focuses in particular on the historical absence of a binding obligation on requested states to cooperate in such cases and, where cooperation is available, on the structural tension between direct and indirect enforcement models.

Only a handful of states have been actively pursuing the enforcement of foreign bribery. Switzerland is one of them and its efforts to crack down on this offence is commendable.

Between 2011 and 2024, Switzerland issued 14 final judicial orders at a federal level against Swiss-linked companies that engaged in foreign bribery. In these proceedings, the companies were ordered to hand over approximately CHF 730 million (combined) in illicit profits that they had obtained through their foreign bribery schemes, and an additional CHF 30 million in fines.

La Directive de l’Union européenne de 2024 relative au recouvrement et à la confiscation d'avoirs oblige les États membres, entre autres, à adopter des mesures législatives pour permettre la confiscation de la « fortune inexpliquée ».

The European Union’s 2024 Directive on Asset Recovery and Confiscation obliges Member States to, among other things, introduce legislative measures to enable the confiscation of “unexplained wealth”.

This policy paper examines Article 16, which contains this obligation, and the powers and restrictions that Member States will need to include in such “unexplained wealth” measures to ensure compliance with the Directive.

Extreme weather events, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and epidemics cause the loss of countless lives and bring disruption to many countries. Governments and humanitarian aid agencies are expected to be at the forefront of preparing for and responding to such disasters.

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:

Chaque année, les flux financiers illicites, dont la corruption est une composante majeure, font perdre environ 88,6 milliards de dollars (3,7 % de son PIB) à l'Afrique. La lutte contre ce fléau est un effort collectif et le secteur privé a un rôle majeur à jouer dans la promotion d'un environnement économique prospère et d’un développement durable du continent.

Africa is estimated to lose an unbelievable USD 88.6 billion (3.7% of Africa’s GDP) each year to illicit financial flows, of which corruption is a major component. Rooting out corruption is a collective effort, and the private sector has a major role to play in laying down the foundations for clean business environments and sustainable development.

In February 2020, Uganda made a high-level political commitment to work with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG) to strengthen the effectiveness of its anti-money laundering (AML) regime. Among other commitments, Uganda undertook to demonstrate that law enforcement agencies and judicial authorities apply the money laundering offence consistent with the identified risks.