By conservative estimates, US$20 billion to $40 billion is

stolen from developing countries each year.

This is equivalent to 20 to 40 percent of total annual

international development assistance

Corruption undermines trust and confidence in government officials,

companies, and banks.

It degrades public institutions and the

rule of law, hinders the delivery of basic

services, diminishes public faith in honest

markets, and discourages private

investment, thus slowing economic

growth and poverty alleviation.

This years’ popular uprisings in Middle East and North Africa raised the

question of hundreds of millions of dollars stashed in havens abroad by

corrupt leaders.

“Stealing is bad enough; ripping off

the poor is disgusting. We need

to trigger a moral revulsion as well as a

legal reaction.”

- World Bank President Robert

Zoellick

The Stolen Asset Recovery (StAR) Initiative of the World Bank and the UNODC encourages and facilitates a more systematic and timely return of assets stolen by politically exposed persons through acts of corruption.

StAR works with developing countries, financial centers and other stakeholders, providing technical support and advice on the systematic and timely return of assets stolen by corrupt officials.

StAR advises countries’ law-enforcement officials and judicial authorities on how to prevent the laundering of the proceeds of corruption and how to confiscate and repatriate ill-gotten gains stashed overseas by corrupt officials.

StAR facilitates the exchange of information among practitioners.

The StAR team includes lawyers, prosecutors, financial investigators, law-enforcement officers, and investigating magistrates.

Middle East

Latin America Africa

East Asia

Europe

has trained 720 experts from 70 countries

on asset recovery in:

Get involved in litigation or criminal proceedings Finance legal representation Manage cases or make decisions on the conduct of cases

Help countries define strategies and make informed decisions in their asset recovery programs

Deliver gap analysis, capacity building and training Facilitate coordination/dialogue between states parties

through all forms of international cooperation, inc Mutual Legal Assistance

Support the preparation and analysis of information on asset recovery aspects of specific cases

Does:

Does Not:

Guides and Tools Asset Recovery Handbook Barriers to Asset Recovery Non-Conviction Based

Asset Forfeiture Guide Managing Asset Returns Income and Asset

Declarations Asset Recovery Watch

Database Politically Exposed

Persons (PEPs) Legal Library Quantification of Proceeds

of Bribery (with OECD)

StAR and the OECD have measured the progress of 30 donor countries in meeting their Accra commitments to (1) combat corruption by individuals or corporations, and to (2) track, freeze, and recover illegally acquired assets.

This analysis highlights the challenges in meeting these commitments, and puts forward recommendations and good practices for both donors and partner countries.

This report is the first attempt to gauge OECD countries’ efforts on asset recovery.

The full report will be available at: www.oecd.org/dac/governance or www.worldbank.org/star.

For the Busan Conference on Aid Effectiveness:

Assets Frozen by 30 OECD Countries (2006 – 2009)

Full Results revealed at the Busan Conference on Aid Effectiveness and www.worldbank.org/star

Assets Returned by 30 OECD Countries (2006 – 2009)

Full Results revealed at the Busan Conference on Aid Effectiveness and www.worldbank.org/star

For more about our work, please visit:

www.worldbank.org/star