What is Asset Recovery Asset Recovery is a

What is Asset Recovery? Asset Recovery is a process that includes the tracing, freezing, confiscation and return of illicitly acquired assets. International Legal Basis: UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC). Entered into force in 2005, currently 182 States Parties. 2

Assets Frozen and Returned (2006 -June 2012, OECD countries, in USD million) 2006 -2009 2010 -June/2012 1400 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 0 0 Assets Frozen Assets Returned

UNCAC Chapter V on Asset Recovery • Establishment of an Implementation Review Mechanism by the UNCAC Conference of States Parties • Currently, second review cycle launched in June 2016 addresses implementation of Chapter V • Joint World Bank and UNODC Stolen Asset Recovery (St. AR) Initiative established in 2007 and provides technical assistance for the implementation of Chapter V 4

What is the St. AR Initiative? • To end safe havens for corrupt funds • To bolster international efforts to confiscate and recover assets taken by corrupt officials • To secure the return of stolen assets to their legitimate owners • Partnership UNODC / World Bank

St. AR results area • • Policy innovation Knowledge development and dissemination Capacity building and networking Case assistance

General/Policy Barriers Lack of Trust • Limited contacts among practitioners across jurisdictions • Inconsistent use of networking opportunities • Lack of patience, responsiveness and consistency Lack of AR policy • Insufficient resources dedicated to AR • No capacity needs assessment or development plan • No clear targets and accountability for AR • Lack of coordination arrangements for AR • Opacity in the management and use of recovered assets

Legal Barriers • Lack of a comprehensive proceeds of crime legislation • Inadequate tracing & freezing powers • No investigative/preservation measures without notifying asset holders • No value-based confiscation, • Little use of rebuttable presumptions of illicit origin of assets or Non-Conviction Based Forfeiture regime • No enforcement of foreign NCBF orders • No direct use of UNCAC as basis for MLA

Operational Barriers • Obstacles to asset tracing • No quick access to financial/property/corporate info • FIUs lack powers to proactively request info from banks • Insufficient use of open source information • No computer forensic capacity • Obstacles of effective intl. coop. • No pre-MLA cooperation • Little awareness of legal requirements and guidance provided by recipient country • Poor quality of MLA requests • Little resources dedicated to intl. cooperation