This study assesses how well countries leading multilateral efforts to freeze and seize kleptocrats’ assets are equipped to deliver on these objectives. The comparative analysis covers eight countries: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US). A majority of these have also set up national task forces to implement sanctions, but most are focused on coordination. Only the US’s KleptoCapture task force has a distinct asset tracing mandate.
Transparency International found that insufficient transparency measures – that kleptocrats have abused for decades – allow the elites to keep their assets out of authorities’ reach. What’s more, patchy regulation of private sector intermediaries and under-resourcing compromise authorities’ ability to act on available evidence and track down illicit assets. Unless reforms are passed, most countries will also face significant legal challenges when it comes to confiscating and eventually returning these assets to the victims of corruption.
Le résumé du rapport en français est disponible ici.
