U4 HELPDESK ANSWER 2024: 25 - A selection of emerging practices in asset freezing, tracing and

For example, the practices featured in this paper pertain to the tracing, freezing and confiscation stages of asset recovery, but do not address the equally important step of the return of assets. [...] 26 A selection of emerging practices in asset freezing, tracing and confiscation 5 Introduction The Basel Institute on Governance (n.d.) states asset recovery as “involves the confiscation of illicit assets, usually the proceeds of crime, and the return of these assets to the legitimate owner(s)”. [...] In deciding whether the conduct qualifies as serious, the minister has recourse to several factors, including the status or position of the person or entity and the possible secondary impacts in the affected country and region. [...] The Peruvian government issued a request to the Cayman Islands to lift secrecy protections and urgently freeze bank accounts held in Montesinos Torres’ name or the names of his associates under the jurisdiction of the accounts based in the country. [...] This enabled the swift and context-tailored analysis of a A selection of emerging practices in asset freezing, tracing and confiscation 23 large volume of internal documents leaked from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, leading to the identification of suspects (and their assets) implicated in schemes to launder proceeds of corruption and tax evasion to offshore jurisdictions.