GIZ Asset Management Forum

Our Co-Founder & CEO Aidan Larkin moderated several sessions for the Asset Management Forum hosted by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) as a part of their Global Program Combating Illicit Financial Flows.

The forum involved participants from Albania, North Macedonia and Peru sharing their best practices for the management of seized assets with their international counterparts from European, US and Latin American Asset Management agencies.

The management and disposal of seized or confiscated assets is vital in the fight against these illicit financial flows. Once the proceeds of crime have been seized, they must be properly managed, allocated and realised so that the victims of the crime, the state and society are properly compensated for the damage caused by corruption, organised crime and other sources of illicit income.

Currently, attempting to establish an asset management system presents countries with many challenges. International standards and guidelines are primarily too general and do not expand upon the initial principle or go into detail. These countries are often highly dependent on regional circumstances to serve as a basis for their newly established national system with varying results.

This debate brought together international representatives from across the asset management sector to discuss their respective best practices in the management of seized assets. This allowed them to identify and discuss problems, examine domestic and international practices and find solutions to these issues as a collective.

This particular session brought together members of three GIZ partner institutions, the Agency of the Administration of Seized and Confiscated Assets in Albania, the Agency for the Management of Sequestrated Assets in North Macedonia, and the National Programme for Seized Assets PRONABI in Peru; and international experts from European, US and Latin American Asset management agencies.

The panellists discussed the international standards of solid asset management and disposal, the legal framework and set-up of an asset management office, the operational processes of an asset management office and the disposal of assets with a particular focus on the social re-use cases.

The Combating Illicit Financial Flows Worldwide project by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) is researching how the connectivity between international financial systems promotes both economic growth and gives rise to illicit financial flows. The project focuses on collaborative efforts between participating countries to create working systems at regional, national and international levels.

Our Co-Founder & CEO Aidan Larkin commented this at the close of the sessions:

“Given the recent rises in crypto-related asset seizures, it’s more important than ever to share the best practices for the management of such assets to highlight the need for a collaborative approach in our industry. I’m delighted to have had the opportunity to moderate these sessions for the GIZ and to have provided crypto asset recovery training to these authorities previously.”

If you would like to know more about our work in crypto-related frauds and asset recovery, contact connect@assetreality.com

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