ST. PETERSBURG (Sputnik) — The UN Convention against Corruption, which came into force in 2005, is the first UN document to comprehensively address the recovery of stolen assets.
"If this unique mechanism works, there won't be incentives for corruption," UN’s Vladimir Kozin said at the Sixth Session of the Conference of States Parties to the UN Convention against Corruption, in St. Petersburg.
He explained that the risk of having stolen money seized abroad and returned to its country of origin would discourage criminals from attempting its removal. "It would have a preventive effect," Kozin stressed.
He added that only a tiny fraction of assets lost to corruption can be repatriated, while the most of money siphoned through illegal financial schemes is lost.
"Huge amounts of money are lost, even more than annual GDP of some countries," Kozin stated. "The amount of the assets that actually are returned is just a tiny fraction of what has been lost."
Curbing illicit financial flows and recovering assets is crucial for developing countries due to their often fragile financial architecture.
Recovery of stolen assets is a cornerstone of the UN Convention against Corruption, which came into effect in 2005. Signatories of this first-ever legally binding global anti-corruption deal are meeting in St. Petersburg on November 2-6 to assess implementation and offer improvements.
The sixth session of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption began Monday and will last through Friday.
