The agility that we pride ourselves on at the Basel Institute is often tested, not least by political turbulence in our partner countries. Beyond its implications for society and its catastrophic impact on victims and health systems, the coronavirus pandemic is the biggest test for us so far.

The enormity of the situation brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic invites – or rather forces – us to reflect on the nature and effectiveness of our systems of governance. And not just of health systems, but more broadly the governance of our very complex societies and their transnational flows.

I start with some definitions, as the term governance is itself broad and contested.

When you have a difficult problem to solve, it often helps to look at it from a different angle. And it always helps to collaborate with experts who have different perspectives and skillsets.

Russia’s risk level in the Basel AML Index has hit a record low following a December 2019 Financial Action Task Force (FATF) assessment that rated the country’s anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing (AML/CFT) systems as reasonably effective.

In March 2017, the World Customs Organization (WCO) formally adopted Collective Action as an innovative approach to enhance integrity and combat corruption in Customs administrations – a development that we welcomed and supported.

Conservationists and public health experts alike have welcomed the recent renewed commitment by the Chinese government to eliminate illegal wildlife trade in response to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) emergency.

Swiss politician and businesswoman Magdalena Martullo-Blocher once confronted her managers with a strange question: “What do you do when the beamer [projector] breaks down?” She was looking for creative solutions to a relatively minor problem, though this seemed to baffle her team when she asked the question.

She certainly wasn’t demanding a business continuity plan, which is on an altogether different scale compared to a broken projector.

The latest deadly strain of coronavirus emerged, according to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, from a market in the city of Wuhan selling everything from rats to wolf pups and civet cats. The Chinese government shut the market, locked down the city and banned the trade in wildlife nationwide while it battles to contain the nascent epidemic.

Gold industry experts from across the private and non-profit sectors came together at Basel Gold Day on 9 October 2020 to explore perspectives on the challenges of ensuring responsible and sustainable gold supply chains.

The Basel Institute's latest Working Paper explores whether, why and how gold refiners can be further integrated in efforts to prevent and combat money laundering in Switzerland. The author, Stefan Mbiyavanga, explains the background and what motivated him to write it, including pending reforms in the Swiss Anti-Money Laundering Act.