The Anti-Corruption Law Program is currently hosting a four-part webinar series to explore the key recommendations arising from the Report of the Commission of Inquiry into Money Laundering in British Columbia (Cullen Commission Report). The 1,800-page Cullen Commission Report was released in June 2022, and represents a watershed moment for anti-corruption law reform efforts in Canada.
The Cullen Commission heard from 199 witnesses, received thousands of exhibits plus written submissions, sponsored research, and archived live recordings of oral evidence. This four-part Webinar Series is designed to help participants to distill the key issues raised at the Commission and to evaluate its recommendations so that organizations and individuals can effectively address and combat anti-corruption within their own operations and activities in Canada and abroad. Each webinar panel features nationally and internationally-recognized anti-corruption and anti-money laundering experts.
Session 3: Cullen Commission Inquiry: Unidentified Wealth Orders and the Future of Civil Forfeiture
The goal of Session 3, is to explore the topic of Unidentified Wealth Orders and Civil Forfeiture in the context of anti-money laundering initiatives in Britch Columbia. Civil forfeiture is being actively pursued in some, but not all, Canadian jurisdictions. Justice Cullen recommended that consideration be given to inclusion of Unidentified Wealth Orders (UWO) among the tools available in civil forfeiture schemes. UWOs have been the subject of much debate since becoming law in the United Kingdom. Their intent is to require persons in possession of large sums of unidentified wealth to explain its origin, or face forfeiture. They raise many questions in terms of constitutional protections and practical problems regarding the cost of litigation. The panel represents experts from Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, all possessing extensive knowledge of civil forfeiture. The webinar will develop the topic of UWOs and discuss the broader topic of civil forfeiture and its rightful place vis-a-vis criminal forfeiture.
This event qualifies for 2 CPD credits from the Law Society of British Columbia
Our Panel:
Moderator – Peter Dent, Partner, Deloitte Forensic
Stefan Cassella, Principal, Asset Forfeiture LLP
Andrew Dornbierer, Senior Asset Recovery Specialist, Basel Institute on Governance
Maria Nizzero, Research Fellow, Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies, Royal United Services Institute
Jeffrey Simser, Esq. , Recently retired Legal Director, Ministry of Attorney General, Toronto, Ontario
This webinar series is being presented by the Anti-Corruption Law Program, which is a joint continuing professional educational initiative of the Centre for Business Law at the Peter A. Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Transparency International - Canada Chapter, and the Vancouver Anti-Corruption Institute at the International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy, also at UBC.