Asset recovery and virtual assets in focus at Central Asia regional conference
A regional conference on “Effective strategies for recovering stolen assets; management and disposal of seized, confiscated and returned assets and current issues related to crypto assets in the context of asset recovery” took place in Tashkent on 20-21 May. The event convened delegations from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and the host country, Uzbekistan, and was co-hosted by the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities Economic Governance Unit (OCEEA/EGU), the Transnational Threats Department Strategic Police Matters Unit (TNTD/SPMU) and the UNODC Regional Office for Central Asia.
The delegations included high-level officials at the forefront of each State’s national expertise, who engaged in open and substantive discussions on the latest trends in the tracking, seizure, management and disposal of seized, confiscated and returned assets.
The discussions included a review of global trends in the use of crypto assets in the commission of economic and corruption crimes, legislative and institutional preparedness of the countries for the challenges associated with the use of crypto assets in money laundering, economic and corruption crimes, and detection, tracing, seizure, confiscation, return and management of crypto assets.
The five Central Asian participating States accredited highly specialized senior officials to their respective delegations.
“We have come here to speak openly about gaps that we can collaboratively address with the international community,” said a meeting participant, attesting to the level of multilateral trust and co-operation enabled by the effective partnership of the OSCE with UNODC on this crucial topic for global financial integrity.
The Central Asian region continues to progress, with the support of OSCE and UNODC among others, in the strengthening of its policies and legislation, and technical standardization of its national regimes to recover, manage and reuse illicitly gained assets.
A video of the conference can be found here: Asset Recovery and Virtual Assets Conference in Tashkent - YouTube © UNODC
Learn more about our work on Strengthening Asset Recovery Efforts here: Strengthening Asset Recovery Efforts in the OSCE Region | OSCE