Basel Institute on Governance

Crypto? Environmental crimes? We can't wait to welcome Scott Johnston of Chainalysis at the next public meeting of our Follow-the-Money Working Group to detangle the links and point out the opportunities for financial investigations.

Join Scott and members of the Countering Environmental Corruption Practitioners Forum next Wednesday 20 November.

🌍 English, français, español

Register: https://baselgovernance.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMpf-mvqzwvGN0Qrkj_ErZkNewrOcvcyIpr

WWF | Transparency International | TRAFFIC

Bolivia 🇧🇴, Ecuador 🇪🇨 and Peru 🇵🇪 are joining forces to tackle the corruption that threatens some of the world's most important forests.

We are proud to have facilitated the first ever regional conference on managing corruption risks in the forestry sector, bringing together forestry agencies, governance experts and representatives of civil society and local communities.

Special thanks to our event hosts, the Gobierno Regional de San Martín, to the Secretaría de Integridad Pública and to all participants.

Learn more in English: https://baselgovernance.org/news/joining-forces-protect-amazon-forest-and-its-communities-corruption

y en español: https://baselgovernance.org/news/unidos-para-proteger-los-bosques-amazonicos-y-sus-comunidades-frente-la-corrupcion

👏 Congratulations to our partners in Colombia 🇨🇴 and Guernsey 🇬🇬 for achieving Colombia's first ever international asset recovery using its non-conviction based forfeiture law!

Guernsey has confiscated nearly half a million dollars in criminal proceeds on behalf of Colombia, following extensive cooperation between the two authorities.

The money was held on trust with a Guernsey financial institution for the benefit of the wife of "Don Efra", the deceased leader of a notorious drug cartel.

We were pleased to support the case from start to finish through our International Centre for Asset Recovery. Now the door is open, we look forward to more such successes in the coming months and years.

Learn more: https://baselgovernance.org/news/colombia-guernsey-cooperation-leads-successful-non-conviction-based-forfeiture-illicit-assets

📢 Out now! ¡Ya disponible! The first in a series of conversations on asset recovery laws and standards in Peru 🇵🇪 and Latin America 🌎.

Oscar Solórzano, Sergio Jiménez and Walther Delgado of our International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR) discuss the purpose and benefits of Peru's non-conviction based forfeiture law. They then tackle three arguments that are being used to undermine its legitimacy:

❎ That it's unnecessary
❎ That it's unconstitutional and violates human rights
❎ That other countries don't have non-conviction based forfeiture laws

Listen to the full conversation in Spanish on YouTube (the auto translation for captions is not too bad): https://youtu.be/mIV_R8FOYNw?si=MHN3v4N-0Q2-uJeK

Or get the main idea in English here: https://baselgovernance.org/news/debating-perus-non-conviction-forfeiture-law-episode-1

Episodio 1: La ley de Extinción de dominio como herramienta para la recuperación de activos en Perú Este conversatorio entre tres expertos del International Centre for Asset Recovery del Basel Institute on Governance tiene como objetivo explorar aspectos cr...

🇵🇹 🇲🇿 Did you know Oporto boasts Portugal's highest asset recovery rates? What could Mozambican asset recovery professionals learn from its success?

Plenty. A delegation from Mozambique's Central Asset Recovery Office recently travelled to Oporto and Lisbon, where they gained valuable insights and forged relationships with Portugal’s leading authorities for asset recovery.

They were accompanied by members of our local team of asset recovery specialists and a representative from the Swiss Embassy in Mozambique / Swiss Development & Cooperation, which supports our technical assistance programme in the country.

🙏 Special thanks to the Public Prosecution Service of Portugal, Judiciary Police, Asset Recovery Office, Asset Administration Office and also to the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries for your warm welcome and openness to sharing ideas and experiences.

This collaboration paves the way for even stronger connections and innovation in asset recovery between our countries!

More about our work in Mozambique: https://baselgovernance.org/news/new-funding-agreement-strengthens-asset-recovery-efforts-mozambique

We are searching for an Associate, Corruption Prevention, to help strengthen anti-corruption programmes in support of Ukrainian partners.

✅You have a university degree or equivalent in law or public administration?
✅You are a junior technical expert with basic knowledge of developing/implementing anti-corruption policies, conducting corruption risk assessments and analytical research?
This is for you!

This is a one-year contract with the possibility of extension.
🇺🇦 The position is for citizens of Ukraine, resident in Ukraine.

➡️ https://baselgovernance.org/about-us/work-us

📢 Big news for financial crime professionals! Our next Basel AML Index update will include indicators of fraud.

Fraud is hugely significant as a source of organised criminal activity and illicit financial flows. And it has devastating impacts on individuals, companies and economies. Fraud HAS to be included in any country-focused money laundering risk assessment.

But to counter fraud threats properly – or even to understand the risks! – we urgently need clearer global definitions and a harmonised approach to data.

Kateryna Boguslavska explains this and other methodological changes to our Basel AML Index before the next annual Public Edition on 2 December: https://baselgovernance.org/blog/basel-aml-index-updates-methodology-reflect-rising-global-fraud-risks-0

🌎 B20 Brasil: Mobilising global business leaders for integrity and anti-corruption 🌍

At this week’s B20 Summit in Brazil, business leaders united to champion the power of multi-stakeholder collaboration in fighting corruption and promoting integrity.

This year, there’s a bold objective: to expand Collective Action initiatives across all G20 countries, supported by a measurable KPI linked to our global initiative database.

Scarlet Wannenwetsch has once again been at the forefront of the Basel Institute's contribution to the B20 Integrity and Compliance Task Force.

Hear her insights on what this means for global business integrity: https://baselgovernance.org/blog/b20-brazil-rings-new-era-collective-action

Calling all arbitration professionals! Join us for the highly anticipated 7th Basel Arbitration and Crime Conference hosted by Mark Pieth and Kathrin Betz at the University of Basel on 10 January 2025.

This year’s in-person conference will bring together top arbitrators, legal experts and practitioners from around the globe to tackle critical questions of corruption and money laundering in arbitration proceedings.

📅 Date: 10 January 2025 (+ dinner on the 9th)
📍 Location: University of Basel – Faculty of Law
🔗 Learn more:

7th Basel Arbitration and Crime Conference This 7th annual gathering of leading arbitrators, lawyers, forensics and academics at the University of Basel will advance discussions on how the arbitration community can better address allegations of corruption or money laundering in relation to underlying disputes.

🇺🇦 The State Agency for Restoration and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine (Державне агентство відновлення та розвитку інфраструктури України) is a leader in anti-corruption education.

This is so important now to ensure the transparency of the reconstruction process for the people of Ukraine and international donors.

Our Ukrainian team supports efforts to build an anti-corruption culture in government institutions. This time our colleagues conducted a training on the Code of Ethics for 68 employees of the Recovery Service in Lviv, under an European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)-funded anti-corruption programme.

Thanks to the management and Anti-Corruption Officer for demonstrating leadership in co-organising and delivering the training, and to all participants for your active engagement in group work and practical exercises and for the lively debates. 👏

🎉 Congratulations, Peru! 🇵🇪 https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx252e2q055o

This is an historic achievement for our partners in Peru's criminal justice system and for all those committed to the fight against corruption.

Alejandro Toledo: Ex-president of Peru gets 20 years for corruption Prosecutors say Alejandro Toledo took $35m in bribes from a Brazilian construction company.

🎉 🇵🇪🇨🇭 Exciting news! We're proud to launch Phase 3 of our impactful Programa GFP Subnacional, funded by the Swiss SECO Economic Cooperation and Development.

We work directly with regional and local governments towards a more transparent, efficient and accountable use of public resources – with real results for communities. From schoolbooks to vaccines to infrastructure projects delivered on time and within budget, lives are being transformed!

Kudos to our brilliant team in Lima led by Carlos Vargas Mas and huge thanks to our Swiss partners including Paul Garnier of the Embajada de Suiza en el Perú and Massimo Bloch of the Swiss SECO Cooperation for your ongoing support. 🙏

And of course big kudos to all the dedicated leaders and officials working at Gobierno Regional Cusco, Municipalidad del Cusco, Gobierno Regional La Libertad, Municipalidad Provincial de Trujillo - Mario Reyna - Alcalde., Gobierno Regional Piura , Gobierno Regional Lambayeque, Municipalidad Provincial de Piura, Gobierno Regional de San Martín, Municipalidad Provincial de San Martín, Gobierno Regional de Apurímac and Municipalidad de Abancay among others.

Learn more: https://baselgovernance.org/news/swiss-peruvian-public-finance-management-programme-enters-exciting-new-phase

For more photos and videos follow Programa GFP Subnacional.

What does it mean in practice for a business to integrate anti-corruption and human rights principles? How could this help to reinforce ethical conduct and accountability in the private sector?

Vanessa Hans and her team have been leading roundtables with a group of global businesses, working collaboratively to find synergies between two "fields" that are often treated separately.

She'll share her experience at this U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre webinar on 24 October together with Maren Fluge Nordgreen of the Rafto Foundation for Human Rights and human rights lawyer Tone Sørfonn Moe.

Look forward to the session moderated by Dr. Guillaume Nicaise of U4/ Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI).

Register:

Strengthening business compliance with anti-corruption and human rights Practical examples and insights on how businesses can integrate anti-corruption and human rights principles to create frameworks that reinforce ethical conduct and accountability.

🇧🇷 Short-term consultancy: We're looking for a Legal Consultant for our Green Corruption programme in Brazil in November 2024.

This is in support of a scoping mission for a new training programme on asset recovery and financial investigation for law enforcement officers.

Apply now!
Terms of reference 🔗https://baselgovernance.org/sites/default/files/2024-10/TOR_Legal%20Consultant%20-%20Brazil%20Green%20Corruption%20programme.pdf

🌎 Will corruption slow down the transition to renewable energy? How can we prevent this?

💡 The Countering Environmental Practitioners Forum brought experts from various sectors together to discuss this vital issue. They showed how working together can help us to prevent governance and corruption risks in the renewable sector, ensuring an effective and just transition.

📺 The full recording and key takeaways are now available: https://environmental-corruption.org/news/takeaways-on-tackling-corruption-challenges-for-a-29

🌿 Thanks to speakers, Mark Robinson and Maja de Vibe, panellists Luca Maiotti, Irene Lucius and Alexia Ruvoletto for sharing their expertise, and to Juhani Grossmann for moderating.

Our International Centre for Asset Recovery is looking for a Programme Assistant (Translation) to facilitate communication with our Government of Moldova counterparts.

Last chance to apply!
https://baselgovernance.org/about-us/work-us

It's astonishing how sophisticated disinformation campaigns can derail anti-corruption efforts.

A sensationalist story, fake news articles on "mushroom" sites, an army of trolls and bots to trick the algorithms...
.. plus social media users' unconscious behaviours, like sharing articles without reading beyond the headlines.

Renne Traicova explains the main findings of our recent research in 🇧🇬 Bulgaria on how media narratives influence public discourse on corruption and integrity: https://baselgovernance.org/blog/how-mushroom-sites-and-disinformation-stand-way-combating-corruption-bulgaria