Stolen Assets Recovery [StAR] Initiative

Traditional Approach that has been taking by the international development community addressing corruption was only focusing on corruptions and weak governance in developing countries. However there are facts that evidently connecting the corruption and developed countries. First, the bribe to public official from developing countries mostly pours from multinational corporations. UNODC and World Bank estimated that bribes at $20 billion to $40 billion per year or equivalent to 20 to 40 percent of flows of official development assistance (ODA) to Developing Countries.

Secondly, the stolen moneys are often placed in financial center of developed countries and often using the intermediaries actors like accountant or lawyer in developed countries to covering that stolen moneys. The amount of that stolen money is very huge, especially when we talk about high-seniors public officials, like president and other Politically Exposed Person’s [PEP’s]. Data from TI showed us that stolen asset of Suharto from Indonesia estimated at 15 to 35 Billion US, that safely stored at financial center in developed world. Thus, addressing corruption and stolen assets would need greater cooperation between developing and developed countries and also between private and public sectors.

The Stolen Asset Recovery (StAR) Initiative, which was launched by the World Bank and UNODC at New York, 17 September 2007, is intended to assist developing States recover stolen assets and help them on using repatriated fund for development purposes. The StAR also addressing the role of developed countries to eliminate impediment to returning stolen assets.

In particular, StAR is designed to take action in four main areas:
• Support developing countries in strengthening their prosecuting agencies and bringing their laws into compliance
• Strengthen the integrity of financial markets by bringing financial centers into compliance with legislation against money-laundering and enhancing cooperation among financial intelligence units around the world
• Assist developing countries in recovering assets by providing loans or grants to finance start-up costs, giving advice on hiring legal counsel and facilitating cooperation between States
• Monitor the use of recovered assets so that repatriated funds are used for development purposes, such as better education and infrastructure.

For more information, please visit www.unodc.org and www.worldbank.org

download here....

other instruments....