Chapter V Asset Recovery Articles 51-59

1. Chapter V Asset Recovery Articles 51-59 A fundamentalprinciple of UNCAC

2. Before After

3. Asset recovery measures Article 52: Prevention and detection of transfers of proceeds of crime Article 53: Direct recovery of property Recovery of property through international cooperation Articles 54-55: Return and disposal of assets Article 57:

4. Prevention of transfer of proceeds of crime Article 52 reiterates the importance of AML prevention measures (art. 14) in asset recovery. States parties must require that their financial institutions: • Verify the identity of their customers (KYC, CDD) • Determine the identity of beneficial owners of high-value accounts • Apply enhanced scrutiny to accounts maintained by prominent public officials (politically exposed persons), their family and close associates • Report suspicious transactions to competent authorities • Maintain records • Apply a risk-based approach

5. Prevention of transfer of proceeds of crime In line with Art. 52, States parties must also: • Prevent the establishment of banks with no physical presence (shell banks) and of corresponding relationships with such banks • Consider establishing financial disclosure systems for appropriate public officials • Consider requiring those officials to declare any authority (interest, signature, etc) over financial accounts in foreign jurisdictions.

6. States parties shall be permitted to: Initiate civil action in another party’s courts to establish ownership of property acquired through corruption. Courtsshall be permitted to: Order corruption offenders to pay compensation to another State party. Courts/competent authorities shall be allowed to: recognize, in confiscation decisions, another party’s claim as legitimate owner of property. Article 53: Direct recovery of property

7. International cooperation for the purpose of confiscation Articles 54 and 55 complement the general provisions of freezing, seizures and confiscations (art. 31) and mutual legal assistance (art. 46) in asset recovery. The articles provide for the following: • A State can enforce a confiscation order from another State • A State can obtain a confiscation order based on a request from another State • A State can seek the assistance of another State in tracing, freezing or seizing assets in view of their eventual confiscation • Conviction- vs. non-conviction-based confiscations

8. Confiscating proceeds of crime Article 55: Article 31: International cooperation for purposes of confiscation Upon request from another State party Domestic freezing, seizure and confiscation Necessary legal framework required to the greatest extent possible Bona fide third parties

9. Article 56 & Article 58 Special cooperation: Forwarding useful information on offences to another State without prior request. Scenarios: • Money laundering cases/different jurisdictions • Perpetrators of corruption or ML offences are nationals or residents of another country Financial intelligence unit: Receiving, analysing and disseminating to the competent authorities reports of suspicious financial transactions. Additional functions: blocking transactions, freezing accounts, conducting investigations, monitoring compliance, training, research and public awareness.

10. Return and disposal of assets (Art.57) Return depending on how closely the assets were linked to the requesting State party Return to the State Public funds embezzled from the State Return to the State if it establishes ownership or damage recognized by the requested State party as a basis for return Proceeds of other offences covered by UNCAC May be returned to the requesting State Party, a prior legitimate owner or used for compensating victims Other Cases

11. Make sure that crime does not pay… Thank you for your attention! For further information please contact: uncac@un.org