Measures on Asset Recovery: Utility of a Multi-Actor Global Fund for Recovered Stolen Assets

Addresses the justification of resources and transnational cooperative efforts undertaken toward the recovery of stolen assets, especially relating to the establishment of greater justice and fairness to people of states whose public assets are stolen, the need to hold culpable public officials firmly accountable, and the deterrence of current and future perpetrators of corruption and money laundering crimes. Key challenges countries face when involved in recovering stolen assets include the inherent legal difficulties in establishing the right to seize traced assets located in foreign jurisdictions as well as the high cost of the recovery and tracing process. An envisioned solution, the Global Stolen Asset Recovery Fund (GSARF), would provide a multifactor approach to addressing some of the problems associated with asset tracing and recovery. The GSARF may emerge as a possible solution instituted in the future, but it can materialize only when current key challenges cease to exist and when multilateral conditions have evolved sufficiently to accommodate it.