The principle that ‘crime shouldn’t pay’ is enshrined in a range of global anti-financial crime standards and conventions and has been applied in national laws for decades. Despite this, global best estimates note that only around 2% of criminal proceeds are frozen, with only 1% subsequently confiscated.
While ideally the necessary growth in asset recovery would occur through greater investment in national and global asset recovery capabilities, in the post-pandemic recovery environment, public finances are likely to remain constrained. Given this limitation, this discussion asks whether it is time to reconsider the role of private sector actors in the fight against criminal wealth and how to make profiting from the proceeds of crime palatable to the public.
Joining this discussion are leaders in private sector asset recovery capabilities:
Katherine Mulhern – Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Restitution Impact, a litigation fund focused on assisting democratic governments in recovering the proceeds of corruption through civil enforcement.
Jonathan Benton – Ex-Head of the UK International Corruption Unit and CEO and Founder of Intelligent Sanctuary, a private sector global asset-tracing and investigations company, leading private prosecutions against the proceeds of crime.
Aidan Larkin – Founder and Chief Executive of Asset Reality, an asset management and realisation company, with world-leading expertise in the management and realisation of high-value assets, including cryptocurrencies, on behalf of law enforcement and other partners.
This event will be chaired by Helena Wood, Associate Fellow for RUSI’s Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies.
Register for the event here.
Main image credit: u_wfbzqegh, via Pixabay