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U.N., World Bank Asset Forfeiture Program to Partner with Egmont Group
By Matt Squire
printThe United Nations and World Bank are planning to tap financial intelligence units worldwide in an effort to better reclaim assets stolen by corrupt political figures and their associates. The intergovernmental organizations' Stolen Asset Recovery (STAR) Initiative, a joint program launched in October 2007, is in talks to partner with the Egmont Group, an organization of 107 financial intelligence units. The organizations founded the initiative to help developing countries reclaim money illegally transferred by corrupt leaders to banks in foreign jurisdictions. In partnering with the Egmont Group, the initiative hopes "to make sure that [the financial intelligence units] are engaged...
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Nine jurisdictions, including Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka and Macau, have joined the Toronto-based international consortium of financial intelligence units known as the Egmont Group. Several of the new members have been the object of critical Financial Action Task Force evaluations in recent years.
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Under the initiative, the organizations will provide training and aid for developing countries seeking to recover funds stolen by corrupt leaders and transferred to financial institutions in foreign jurisdictions.