An eight-month training programme for senior leaders of Tanzania and Zanzibar's anti-corruption and economic crimes authorities concluded last week, in the presence of Minister Haroun Ali Suleiman (Zanzibar’s Minister for Constitutional and Legal Affairs) and Didier Chassot (Switzerland’s Ambassador to Tanzania).

Investigators and prosecutors from the Malawi Police Service (MPS) have gained vital skills in financial investigations and asset recovery during a five-day intensive Financial Investigations and Asset Recovery training programme.

This is the first time our ICAR Training Team has been able to deliver in-person training since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Peru’s non-conviction based confiscation law is a crucial element in the country’s asset recovery toolkit, emphasised the country’s Special General Public Prosecutor, Dr. Daniel Soria Luján, following a three-day training course for 32 Peruvian prosecutors.

The virtual training was focused on Extinción de dominio, the country's non-conviction based confiscation law, whose implementation the Basel Institute is supporting through technical assistance and capacity building.

The use of virtual assets such as cryptocurrencies has expanded hugely around the world. Thousands of new users are added each day, and more individuals now use cryptocurrencies than trade on stock exchanges. Yet, as with all emerging technologies, there are risks that cryptocurrencies can be used for illegal activity such as money laundering and terrorist financing.

The ability to forge personal relationships and network with counterparts from other professions and agencies was somewhat lost during the pandemic restrictions. But the latest International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR) training programme delivered in Malawi was a strong reminder of just how important this personal networking is in the fight against corruption.

Our International Centre for Asset Recovery training team has delivered another virtual version of our flagship Financial Investigations and Asset Recovery training programme to 19 anti-corruption officers from 14 African countries.

The training was provided at the request of the Commonwealth Africa Anti-Corruption Centre (CAACC) and funded by the African Development Bank. The virtual delivery took place using video conference and the Basel Institute’s LEARN platform.