During 2018 and 2019, the world has faced serious money laundering scandals involving reputable institutions. Surprisingly, abuses of financial systems were uncovered in countries that have low risk scores in the Basel AML Index, like Estonia and Sweden.
Falling rankings in the Basel AML Index, released today, show how many countries’ AML systems are a weak defence against today’s money laundering risks.
Ineffective anti-money laundering and counter financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) systems and lack of transparency are leaving the door open to increasingly sophisticated money laundering schemes.
In 2019, the world saw a significant number of money laundering scandals related to “Russian money” entering the financial markets of European countries, revealed through investigations by the OCCRP and other investigative media outlets.
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Landmark asset recovery case puts Peruvian non-conviction-based confiscation legislation to the test
A high-profile asset recovery case in Peru is putting the country’s new legislation on non-conviction-based confiscation (Extinción de Dominio) to the test.
The new Extinción de Dominio legislation, which roughly translates as "extinction of possession", allows stolen assets to be recovered even if the asset holder cannot formally be convicted of a crime. Introduced in August 2018, it enables the recovery of assets from foreign bank accounts whose owners, for example, are now dead or have absconded.
Oscar Solorzano, Senior Asset Recovery Specialist and Manager of the Basel Institute's regional office in Peru, emphasised that asset recovery should be elevated to a national priority in a high-level conference panel at the Ecuadorian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 18 July 2019.
He was speaking alongside José Valencia, Ecuador's Minister of Foreign Affairs (centre), and Gonzalo Salvador, Coordinador General de Asesoría Jurídica, responsible for coordinating legal advice within the Ministry (right).
The activities of the International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR) in 2018 continued to have impact across all aspects of our core mission: to enable partner countries to investigate complex cases of corruption and money laundering, send criminals to jail and recover stolen assets stashed abroad.
The Thai National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) has renewed a long-standing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Basel Institute on Governance to jointly foster the prevention of and international collaboration in the fight against corruption.
Die brisante, exklusiv recherchierte Darstellung eines wirtschaftspolitischen Schlüsselthemas führt sowohl zur glitzernden Welt der Goldverarbeitung als auch zu den übelsten Minenregionen der Welt.
The Competence Centre Arbitration and Crime at the University of Basel has just published a new Toolkit for Arbitrators on corruption and money laundering in international arbitration.
Both in investment and in commercial arbitration, arbitrators face considerable challenges if a party alleges – or the arbitrators suspect – that corruption has influenced the underlying dispute.