Morocco Hosts the Second Arab Forum on Asset Recovery

Arab Region - Saturday, October 26, 2013

The “Arab Forum on Asset Recovery” (AFAR) held its second meeting in Marrakesh on 26-28 October 2013 in collaboration between the government of Morocco and the United Kingdom. More than 200 participants including senior officials, judges and prosecutors from 40 countries discussed ways to enhance international cooperation to recover assets derived from corruption in Arab countries in transition. During the Forum, participants identified related challenges, including bank secrecy laws, lack of political will, scarcity of information or difficulty of access to the latter, and delays in the recovery process due to court decisions; and explored ways to overcome them. They also highlighted good practices in asset recovery and discussed means to achieve further progress. They agreed to continue working together to reduce barriers in developed countries to recover stolen assets and strengthen the ability of Arab countries to recover them. The Arab Forum on Asset Recovery was launched in 2012 the framework of the Deauville Partnership. It works as a platform bringing together G8 countries, Arab countries in transitions, and partner countries from the region to strengthen cooperation on recovering stolen assets. It is supported by the joint World Bank - UNODC “Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative” and collaborates with a number of international organizations including UNDP. The first meeting of the Forum was held in Qatar in September 2012 http://star.worldbank.org/star/ArabForum/arab-forum-2012. It was followed by a series of three training sessions that took place in Doha in April 2012, in Sharm el Sheikh in June 2013 and London in September 2013.