Egypt’s (modest) efforts to bring back Mubarak’s billions

  It was the anger against the widespread corruption of Mubarak’s regime that brought millions of Egyptians on the streets in early 2011. In the aftermath of the revolution, Egyptians put a lot of hopes that they would get back the billions of Euros stolen by Mubarak and his family to invest them in building Read more about Egypt’s (modest) efforts to bring back Mubarak’s billions[…]

Making asset recovery great again

Many people are discussing passionately what the Trump era will look like. We should ask ourselves: what will happen to US policies on recovering stolen assets? Will the US administration continue in its anti-corruption efforts worldwide? Although we should wait to see what happens, the premises are far from promising. Many have criticised the conflicts Read more about Making asset recovery great again[…]

Fighting stolen assets in Italy: a chat with the Osservatorio sulla ndrangheta

Today we talked with our friends and partners at the Osservatorio contro la ndrangheta, a cultural association based in Reggio Calabria, Italy. The Osservatorio has been active against  organised crime - ndrangheta, as the mafia in Calabria is known - since 2007 through research, awareness raising and education with schools and universities, including the Humboldt Read more about Fighting stolen assets in Italy: a chat with the Osservatorio sulla ndrangheta[…]

Asset recovery: Germany 101

In the first part of this blog series we discussed how Germany is a country at high risk of money laundering due to the financial system’s secrecy. This has allowed dictators and other officials to hide their corrupt wealth in its banks. But what about the efforts that Germany has taken to help countries recover Read more about Asset recovery: Germany 101[…]

Is Germany a tax haven? Part I

Over the past few years, Germany has been praised for its efforts in leading on transparency and anti-corruption in the global agenda and for supporting countries in transition to recover stolen assets. But at the same time, the German finance ministry estimates that €100 billon is laundered through Germany each year.  What’s the truth? In Read more about Is Germany a tax haven? Part I[…]