RECOMMENDATIONS
We hereby acknowledge the following points.
Preamble - Recognition of Current Situation:
1. Economic crimes, including corruption and money-laundering, are committed for the purpose ofobtaining profit. Thus, identifying, freezing, seizing and confiscating the proceeds of crime are themost effective measures against those criminal activities. Further, the successful confiscation andrecovery of the proceeds of corruption are vital to eradicate poverty and to secure sustainable economic
development and the rule of law, especially in developing countries.
2. A variety of problems impede the abilities of prosecutors and investigators to confiscate and recover
the proceeds of corruption, such as weaknesses in the prevention and control of money-laundering,legal loopholes, lack of expertise and resources to successfully trace, freeze and confiscate assets, both
domestically and internationally, as well as insufficient trustful international co-operation.
3. As international transactions have become increasingly easy to conduct, so too has it become easier
to move corruption and money-laundering proceeds across borders. Investigation and prosecution
authorities face immense challenges in tracing and proving complex transnational flows of money
and successfully freezing and confiscating the illegally acquired, transferred and diverted assets,
particularly when the assets are located abroad. Under these circumstances, international co-operation
among financial and criminal justice authorities in the relevant countries and mutual legal assistance inthe freezing and confiscation of the proceeds of corruption have become focal issues in recent years.
It has, therefore, become indispensable for each country to both adopt and fully implement effective
legislation and practical measures for identifying, freezing, confiscating and repatriating the proceedsof corruption as may be provided in existing international agreements and conventions.
We hereby adopt by consensus the following Recommendations:
Recommendations:
1. Accession to the United Nations Convention against Corruption should be duly considered in order toutilize the Convention as an effective tool for identifying, freezing, confiscating and repatriating of theproceeds of corruption;
2. To implement obligations in the UNCAC, criminalization of acts of corruption in accordance with theUNCAC should be duly considered by respective countries. Such acts of corruption criminalized inaccordance with the Convention should be included as predicate offences of money laundering;
3. Establishment of a Financial Intelligence Unit to gather and analyse information regarding financialtransactions is considered essential to detect money-laundering and the laundering of the proceedsof corruption. Establishment of an FIU is called for by Article 14 of the UNCAC. FIUs should beadequately empowered and staffed so that they will be able to carry out their functions effectively
and without undue influence. FIUs should provide the widest possible co-operation to their foreigncounterparts without unduly restrictive conditions;4. Financial institutions and FIUs should comply with relevant FATF 40+9 recommendations, which are
the accepted international standards for an effective anti-money-laundering regime, especially thoseregarding the duty to verify every customer’s identity and beneficial ownership and to report suspicioustransactions;
5. In order to effectively detect the proceeds of corruption, criminal justice authorities and officials shouldpay adequate attention to suspicious transactions reported to their FIUs;
6. Criminal justice authorities and FIUs should develop the capacity of their officers by providing
professional training on financial investigations including accounting procedures, new payment
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Law enforcement authorities should not ignore the myriad ways that the proceeds of corruption aremoved and be alert to the fact that not all funds are moved through the formal financial sector. In orderto combat cash smuggling and to promote targeting and interdiction of cash couriers, law enforcement
and other relevant authorities should enhance international sharing of information and experience as
regards the modes of operation employed by cash couriers and effective detection methods;
8. Establishment of an obligatory asset disclosure system for appropriate public officials, including highranking officials and politicians, should be considered. Access to such information should be granted
to appropriate investigative authorities;
9. In order to prevent dissipation of the proceeds of corruption, adequate legislation and proceduresshould be enacted so that criminal justice authorities or FIUs are empowered to promptly take freezing
measures;10. Criminal justice authorities, upon receipt of a request from another country to freeze the proceeds ofcorruption located in their country, should act promptly to ensure that the funds are so restrained;
11. To ensure the effectiveness of freezing orders, authorities should be able to obtain such orders withoutalerting the subject of the investigation;
12. Adequate legislation and procedures for criminal conviction-based asset confiscation should beenacted, and properly implemented;
13. Where not already in effect, consideration should be given to enacting a law to allow for the confiscationof proceeds of corruption without a criminal conviction, especially in cases in which the offendercannot be prosecuted by reason of death, flight or absence or in other appropriate cases;
14. The possibility of shifting the burden of proof regarding the origin of alleged proceeds of corruption
should be considered;
15. Concerning cases involving the embezzlement of public funds or the laundering of such embezzled
funds, a legal mechanism which allows a requested country to return those confiscated funds to arequesting country should be in place, as mandated by Article 57 of the UNCAC;
16. Criminal justice authorities should effectively utilize mutual legal assistance as a measure to realize
freezing, confiscation and recovery of proceeds of corruption;
17. Criminal justice authorities should provide the widest possible co-operation to their foreign counterparts
so that proceeds of corruption can be effectively and promptly detected, frozen, confiscated andrecovered. Such co-operation should be provided without unduly restrictive conditions;
18. Criminal justice authorities should strengthen and utilize informal channels with their counterparts inother jurisdictions prior to making a formal request for mutual legal assistance in order to facilitate
active information exchange. Sharing of draft requests should be encouraged in order to avoid delays
and to ensure that final versions will be executable in the requested country;
19. All investigative agencies are encouraged to build trustful co-operation at the domestic, regional andinternational levels, to ensure efficient investigations for a better prospect of conviction and/or asset
recovery;
20. Participation in international fora, such as this Regional Seminar on Good Governance, to exchange
experiences and possible solutions with other jurisdictions, should be encouraged. Participants shouldshare with criminal justice and other authorities in their respective jurisdictions the knowledge gained
from such international fora; and21. Notice should be taken of assistance provided by the joint UNODC-World Bank Stolen Asset Recovery
Initiative in developing and implementing measures to facilitate asset recovery.

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