Glossary of Asset Recovery Terms

Glossary

Administrator: A representative who has been charged with rescuing an insolvent business, rather than closing it, unless the context requires otherwise.

Administrative confiscation: A non-judicial mechanism for confiscating proceeds of crime or assets used or involved in the commission of an offense.

Arbitration: A procedure under which parties agree to resolve a dispute by submitting it to one or more private persons who have no financial interest in the outcome. Arbitration clauses can be found in international contracts and bilateral investment treaties.

Assets: Any item of value, whether corporeal or incorporeal, movable or immovable, tangible or intangible, and legal documents or instruments evidencing title to or an interest in such assets. See also “property.”

Asset confiscation: See “confiscation”

Avoidance actions: The cancellation of transactions that took place during a period before the insolvency of an enterprise. Such transactions can be, for example, fraudulent, gratuitous, preferential, or outside the ordinary course of business.

Balance of probabilities: a standard that is used to adjudicate civil legal cases, meaning that something is more likely than not.

Bankruptcy: The legal procedure for managing the insolvency of individuals and businesses.

Beneficial owner: The true owner of securities or property who is rightfully entitled to their benefits; the beneficial owner is often different from the title holder, which may be a financial institution holding securities on behalf of clients.

Bona fide purchaser: A third party with an interest in an asset subject to confiscation who did not know of the conduct giving rise to the confiscation or who, on learning of the conduct giving rise to confiscation, did all that reasonably could be expected under the circumstances to terminate the use of the asset. The term is used interchangeably with “innocent owner.”

Bribery: Any of the promising, offering, or giving of an undue advantage to a national, international, or foreign public official (directly or indirectly), for the official himself or herself or another person or entity, in order that the official act or refrain from acting in the exercise of his or her official duties; and the acceptance or solicitation of an undue advantage by such an official (directly or indirectly), for the official himself or herself or another person or entity, in order that the official act or refrain from acting in the exercise of his or her official duties.

Central authority: The entity designated by a jurisdiction to receive requests for mutual legal assistance from other jurisdictions. The central authority may deal with these requests itself or forward them to the appropriate authority.

Chain of corporate vehicles: This term generally refers to groups of two or more corporate vehicles connected through legal ownership.

Circumstantial evidence: One or more facts that can be used to infer another fact. Also referred to as “inferences based on objective circumstances.”

Civil action: A noncriminal action brought to enforce, redress, or protect a private or civil right. An action brought by a private person is a private action; an action brought by a government is a public action. The term is used interchangeably with “lawsuit.”

Civil party: In most civil law jurisdictions, a victim of a criminal offense may request the civil party status within the criminal trial against the accused offender. To obtain the civil party status, the victim generally has to show loss or damage resulting directly from the offense. If granted the civil party status, the victim may participate as a civil party in the criminal proceedings and obtain compensation for the harm suffered.

Civil forfeiture: The confiscation by a government of property involved  in illegal activity.

Claimant: The party asserting an interest in the asset. This may include a third party, innocent owner, defendant, or target. The term is used interchangeably with “plaintiff”.

Collateral security: Security given in addition to a senior security, and subordinate to it, intended to guarantee its validity or convertibility or ensure its performance; if the senior security fails, the creditor may recover through recourse to the collateral security.

Collection (civil debt): Process for recovering delinquent amounts owed.

Commingled assets: Proceeds or instrumentalities of an offense that have been mixed with other assets that may not be proceeds of crime.

Compensation: The amount of money that places the victim in the financial position it would have held absent the harm caused by corruption.

Compliance: The fulfillment by public officials of their disclosure obligations established by law.

Confiscation: The permanent deprivation of property by order of a court or other competent authority. The term is used interchangeably with “forfeiture.” Persons or entities that hold an interest in the funds or other property at the time of the confiscation lose all rights to those funds or assets.

Conflict of interest: A situation in which a  government official takes or keeps a personal interest in a public matter under their responsibility.

Contempt of court: Any willful disobedience or disregard of a court order that interferes with a judge’s ability to administer justice.

Contract: A covenant or agreement between two or more persons, with lawful consideration or cause, to do, or abstain from doing, some act.

Conviction-based confiscation: Describes all forms of confiscation that require the defendant to be convicted of an offense before confiscation proceedings can be initiated and confiscation can take place.

Corporate vehicles: A broad concept that refers to all forms of legal entities and legal arrangements through which a wide variety of commercial activities are conducted and assets are held (for example, corporations, trusts, partnerships, foundations, and others).

Corruption: The act of an official or fiduciary who unlawfully and wrongfully uses his station or character to procure some benefit for himself or for another person, contrary to duty and the rights of others.[1]

Criminal confiscation: See conviction-based confiscation.

Damages: Pecuniary compensation that may be recovered by a plaintiff for loss, injury, or harm caused by a breach of duty, including criminal wrongdoing or immoral conduct. Compensatory damages refer to the monetary harm to the economic position of the person who has suffered the damage. The loss of profits represents the profit that could reasonably have been expected but that was forfeited because of the vitiated contract or the breach.

Defendant: Any party who is required to answer the complaint of a plaintiff in a civil lawsuit before a court, or any party who has been formally charged or accused of violating a criminal statute.

Deferred Prosecution Agreement: A form of settlement used in the United States whereby the prosecution can propose to a defendant a written agreement in which the defendant admits responsibility and undertakes certain obligations in exchange for the prosecutor filing charges but not immediately taking further action on them (in legal parlance, deferring action) and dismissing them at a later time once the defendant has satisfactorily fulfilled his side of the agreement.

Derivative action or suit: A lawsuit on behalf of a corporation by its shareholders against a director or officer for damages for failure of duty or mismanagement.

Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions (DNFBPs): This term encompasses casinos (including Internet-based casinos), real estate agents, dealers in precious metals, dealers in precious stones, lawyers, notaries, other independent legal professionals and accountants, and trust and company service providers.

Disgorgement: Disgorgement is a civil remedy to require the repayment of ill-gotten gains. Unlike confiscation, this remedy is not derived from statute but from the courts’ equitable power to correct unjust inequality.

Documents: All information recorded in any form, visual or aural, and by any means, whether in handmade form (including, but not limited to, writings, drawings, painting); photographic form (including, but not limited to, microfilm, microfiche, prints, slides, negatives, videotapes, motion pictures, photocopies); mechanical form (including, but not limited to, phonograph records, printing, typing); or electrical, electronic, or magnetic form (including, but not limited to, tape recordings, cassettes, compact discs, electronic or magnetic storage devices such as floppy diskettes, hard discs, CDROMs, digital video discs (DVDs), Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), Multi Media Cards (MMCs), memory sticks, optical disks, printer buffers, smart cards, memory calculators, electronic dialers, or electronic notebooks, as well as digital data files and printouts or readouts from any magnetic, electrical, or electronic storage device). The term is used interchangeably with records and materials.

Double jeopardy: The principle that a person, natural or legal, should not be subject to a second prosecution for the same offense after legitimate acquittal or conviction, nor should a person be subject to multiple punishments for the same offense. See also the ne bis in idem principle.

Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units: An informal gathering of financial intelligence units formed in 1995. Now known as the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units, these FIUs meet regularly to find ways to cooperate, especially in the areas of information exchange, training, and the sharing of expertise.

Embezzlement: Fraudulent appropriation to his own use or benefit by a clerk, agent, trustee, public officer, or other person acting in a fiduciary capacity of public funds or property entrusted to him by another.

Enforcement (civil judgment): The collection of the value stipulated in a judgment against an asset held by a defendant.

Estate: An interest in land or any other property.

Execution procedures: Coercive measures that a judgment creditor may take against his debtor to recover a claim established by an enforcement order or to recover his property.

Exequatur ruling: A judgment by a domestic court that a foreign order may be enforced in the jurisdiction in which the court operates.

Ex parte proceedings: Legal proceedings brought by one person in the absence of, and without representation or notification of, other parties.

FATF Recommendations: The International Standards on Combating Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism and Proliferation adopted by the Financial Action Task Force in February 2012 and updated in 2013 and 2014. The standards establish a comprehensive framework of measures for signatory countries to implement in order to combat money laundering, terrorist financing, and financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Financial disclosure: A mechanism by which a public official must periodically submit information about his or her income, assets, liabilities, and/or interests. Also referred to as asset disclosure, income and asset declarations, wealth reporting, and interest declarations.

Financial disclosure agency: A government entity in charge of managing the financial disclosure system. Disclosure management can be centralized in a single agency or decentralized. Depending on the system’s design and its objectives, the agency can be autonomous or act under the scope of one of the three branches of power.

Financial intelligence unit (FIU): “A central, national agency responsible for receiving (and as permitted, requesting), analyzing, and disseminating to the competent authorities, disclosures of financial information (i) concerning suspected proceeds of crime and potential financing of terrorism, or (ii) required by national legislation or regulation, in order to combat money laundering and terrorism financing.”

Fines: Criminal or civil monetary sanctions, which are often punitive in nature.

Focal point: A single, readily accessible office or official with designated authority to communicate with other jurisdictions with respect to mutual legal assistance requests and other related matters and whose contact details are provided through the Internet and/or other media.

Forfeiture: The permanent deprivation of property by order of a court or other competent authority. The term is used interchangeably with confiscation. Forfeiture takes place through a judicial or administrative procedure that transfers the ownership of specified funds or other assets to the state. The persons or entities that held an interest in the specified funds or other assets at the time of the confiscation or forfeiture lose all rights, in principle, to the confiscated or forfeited funds or other assets.

Forum: Court of justice, or judicial tribunal; a place of jurisdiction; a place where a remedy is sought; a place of litigation.

Foundation: A foundation is a legal entity that consists of a property that has been transferred into it to serve a particular purpose and has no owners or shareholders. Foundations are ordinarily managed by a board of directors, according to the terms of a foundation document or constitution. Some jurisdictions restrict foundations to public purposes (public foundations); other jurisdictions allow foundations to be established to fulfill private purposes (private foundations).

Freeze of assets: A temporary prohibition on the transfer, conversion, disposition, or movement of property or temporary assumption of custody or control of property on the basis of an order issued by a court or other competent authority. The term is used interchangeably with seizure and restraining.

Gag order: An order of a court that restricts the dissemination of information about a pending case.

Gatekeeper: Includes accountants, lawyers, financial consultants, or other professionals holding accounts at a financial institution and acting on behalf of their clients, either knowingly or unwittingly, to move or conceal the proceeds of illegal activity. A criminal may seek to use the gatekeeper to access the financial system, while remaining anonymous themselves.

Grand corruption: A broad range of offenses, including bribery, embezzlement, trading in influence, misappropriation of state funds, illicit enrichment, and abuse of office committed by high-level public officials or senior officers of state-owned entities.

Hearsay: An out-of-court statement that is offered in court as evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted. Whereas civil law jurisdictions do not usually exclude hearsay from proceedings, hearsay is inadmissible in common law (with a number of exceptions). If hearsay is admitted, the court must also consider the appropriate weight to give the evidence.

Hybrid company: Limited by a guarantee (similar to a foundation) but issues shares like a company.

Illicit enrichment: “A significant increase in the assets of a public official that he or she cannot reasonably explain in relation to his or her lawful income” (UN 2004, article 20).

Informal assistance:  Any activity or assistance that is provided without the need for a formal mutual legal assistance (MLA) request. There may be legislation that permits this type of practitioner-to-practitioner assistance, including MLA legislation.

Innocent owner: A third party with an interest in an asset subject to confiscation who did not know of the conduct giving rise to confiscation or, on learning of the conduct giving rise to confiscation, did all that reasonably could be expected under the circumstances to terminate use of the asset. The term is used interchangeably with bona fi de purchaser for value.

In personam: Latin for “directed toward a particular person.” In the context of confiscation or a lawsuit, it is a legal action against a specific person.

In rem: Latin for “against a thing.” In the context of confiscation, it is a legal action against a specific thing or asset.

Insolvency: The conditions that support proceedings in court (including liquidation and reorganization) and out of court (including receivership) to conduct the winding up of a company that is bankrupt or was created for fraudulent purposes.

Instrument or instrumentality: The assets used to facilitate crime, such as a car or boat used to transport narcotics or cash.

International asset recovery: The process by which the proceeds of corruption transferred abroad are recovered and repatriated to the country from which they were taken or to their rightful owners.

International Business Corporation (IBC): This corporate vehicle, sometimes called an exempt company, is the primary corporate form employed by nonresidents in offshore financial centers. An IBC has the features of a corporation, but it is not permitted to conduct business within the incorporating jurisdiction and is generally exempt from local income taxes. In most jurisdictions, an IBC is not permitted to engage in banking, insurance, and other financial services.

Know your customer: The due diligence and bank regulation that financial institutions and other regulated entities must perform to identify their clients and ascertain relevant information (including source and destination of the funds) pertinent to doing financial business with them.

Lawsuit: A private action between two persons in a court of law in which a plaintiff who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant’s actions seeks a legal or equitable remedy. The term is used interchangeably with “civil action.”

Legal arrangements: Express trusts or other similar legal arrangements.

Legal persons: Bodies corporate, foundations, anstalts, partnerships, or associations, or any similar bodies that can establish a permanent customer relationship with a financial institution or otherwise own property.

Letters rogatory: A formal request from a court to a foreign court for some type of judicial assistance. It permits formal communication between the judiciary, a prosecutor, or law enforcement official of one jurisdiction, and his or her counterpart in another jurisdiction. A particular form of mutual legal assistance.

Limited liability company (LLC): This is a business entity that provides limited liability to its owners (known as members). An LLC may be managed either by members or by one or more separate managers engaged by the LLC under the terms contained within its articles of organization.

Liquidated damages: Clause by which the parties decide when they enter into the contract how much would be paid in the event of a breach of the contract.

Liquidation: The sale of a debtor’s assets, the proceeds of which are used for the benefit of creditors.

List of filers: Document created by a financial disclosure agency that identifies the positions required to declare assets and that is populated with the names of officials occupying those positions.

Materials: See documents.

Merida Convention: The United Nations Convention against Corruption.

Money laundering: The act of taking money obtained illegally and investing it to make it appear as if it was obtained legally.

Mutual legal assistance (MLA): The process by which jurisdictions seek and provide assistance to another jurisdiction in gathering information, intelligence, and evidence for investigations; in implementing provisional measures; and in enforcing foreign orders and judgments.

Mutual legal assistance request: Distinguished from informal assistance, an MLA request is typically a request in writing that must adhere to specified procedures, protocols, and conditions set out in multilateral or bilateral agreements or domestic legislation. These requests are generally used to gather evidence (including through coercive investigative techniques), obtain provisional measures, and seek enforcement of domestic orders in a foreign jurisdiction.

Mutual legal assistance treaty (MLAT): A bilateral treaty that creates clear and binding obligations between two jurisdictions for cooperation on mutual legal assistance and sets out efficient and comprehensive procedures to be applied. These treaties are typically not limited in scope to a range of offenses but apply to any criminal activity that falls within their scope of application. MLATs typically create a closer relationship between the signatory states than multilateral conventions and are customized to fit that relationship.

non bis in idem: Latin for “not twice for the same.” A principle applied in civil law systems mainly meaning that a person (natural or legal) may not be tried for a criminal offense for which that person has previously been finally convicted or acquitted. See double jeopardy.

Non-conviction based confiscation (NCB confiscation): Confiscation for which a criminal conviction is not required. As its name suggests, an NCB confiscation does not require trial or a criminal conviction, but only a noncriminal confiscation proceeding. The NCB proceeding may, or may not, parallel a criminal proceeding.

Non-Prosecution Agreement (NPA): A form of settlement used in the United States whereby the prosecution can propose to a defendant a written agreement to admit responsibility and undertake certain obligations in exchange for the prosecutor not filing charges.

OECD Anti-Bribery Convention: OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions. Entered into force 15 February 1999.

Open source information: Data that can be obtained from publicly available resources.

Originating jurisdiction: A jurisdiction that asks for the assistance of another jurisdiction for the purpose of assisting an investigation or prosecution or enforcing a judgment. See also requesting jurisdiction.

Palermo Convention: The United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.

partie civile: French for civil party. In some civil law systems, a party injured as a direct result of a criminal offense can apply to join the criminal proceedings as a civil party, with a view to obtaining access to the case file and related evidence as well as to pursuing damages in the context of the criminal case.

Partnership: A partnership is an association or two or more individuals or entities formed for the purpose of carrying out business activity. In contrast to corporations, traditional partnerships are entities in which at least one (in the case of limited partnerships) or all (in the case of general partnerships) of the partners have unlimited liability for the obligations of the partnership. In a limited partnership, the limited partners enjoy limited liability, provided that they do not participate actively in management decisions or bind the partnership.

Personal claim: A claim against a person. A plaintiff who has suffered economic damages can demand to be paid or compensated from the assets of the person who caused the damage.

Politically exposed person (PEP): “Individuals who are, or have been, entrusted with prominent public functions, for example, Heads of State or of government, senior politicians, senior government, judicial or military officials, senior executives of state-owned corporations, important party officials. Business relationships with family members or close associates of PEPs involve reputational risks similar to those with PEPs themselves. The definition is not intended to cover middle ranking or more junior individuals in the foregoing categories”

Practitioner: Refers to law enforcement investigators, investigating magistrates, private lawyers, forensic accountants, financial analysts, and prosecutors. One or all of these roles may be involved in a component of the investigation, depending on the laws of the jurisdiction.

Prima facie: Legal term meaning that a proposition or claim is accepted as correct until proven otherwise.

Proceeds of crime: Any property derived from or obtained, directly or indirectly, through the commission of an offence. In most jurisdictions, commingled assets are included.

Property:  Assets of every kind, whether corporeal or incorporeal, movable or immovable, tangible or intangible, and legal documents or instruments evidencing title to or interest in such assets.

Property-based confiscation: A confiscation action that targets a specific thing or asset found to be the proceeds or instrumentalities of crime. Also known as in rem confiscation or a tainted property system.

Proprietary claim: A claim by the beneficial owner of a piece of property or an asset asking the court to return the item or its equivalent value.

Provisional measure: The temporary prohibition against the transfer, conversion, disposition, or movement of assets or temporary assumption of custody or control of assets pursuant to an order of a court or other competent authority. The term is used interchangeably with “freezing (of an asset),” “restraint,” and “seizure.”

Punitive damages: The costs that are awarded to a person due to negligence that has caused personal injury or damage to personal property. It is more than the item is worth but considerably so. It is a payment by the person to the injured party as a punishment for reckless behavior.

Receivership: The process through which all property subject to claims is placed under the control of an independent receiver, who operates the company or manages its assets in event of a receivership. Some contracts between borrowers and creditors authorize the appointment of a receiver if a secured creditor is not being paid or if a lender finds the company’s management practices dubious. Court action is not required.

Recognition (civil judgment): The acceptance by one court of the conclusion of another court without hearing evidence or engaging in an independent decision-making process. The second court issues its own judgment stating substantially the same conclusion.

Reorganization: The restructuring of the debt obligations of a bankrupt or insolvent company. During reorganization, the debtor retains ownership of its assets and continues business operations. The debtor renegotiates the terms of its debt obligations to creditors.

Reparations: Gratuitous or voluntary payments undertaken by a wrongdoer in an effort to repair the damage done or an expression of remorse.

Requested jurisdiction: A jurisdiction that is asked to provide assistance to another jurisdiction for the purpose of assisting an investigation or prosecution or enforcing a judgment.

Requesting jurisdiction: A jurisdiction that asks for the assistance of another jurisdiction for the purpose of assisting with an investigation or prosecution or enforcing a judgment.

Restitution: A court order directing the (1) return of an item to its legal owner, (2) restoration of damaged property to its original state, or (3) payment of compensation to a victim. The principle that a person who has suffered loss as a result of a wrong committed against him or her must be restored as nearly as possible to the circumstance in which he or she was before the damage took place.

Restraining order: A mandatory injunction issued by a judge or a court that restrains any person from using or disposing of the assets named in the order, pending the outcome of confiscation proceedings. Court authorization is generally required, but some jurisdictions permit restraining orders to be issued by prosecutors or other law enforcement authorities.

Restraint of assets: See freeze of assets.

Seizure: Taking temporary assumption of custody or control of property on the basis of an order issued by a court or other competent authority. Court orders are generally required, but in some jurisdictions law enforcement agencies are entitled to seize assets.

Seller for value: See innocent owner.

Social damage: The loss incurred not only by specific groups or individuals but by the community as a whole.

State party: A country that has ratified or acceded to a particular treaty and is therefore legally bound by the provisions in the instrument.

Submission: The process through which the public official presents to the financial disclosure agency all the information requested. It includes the filing of financial disclosure forms and also entails the preliminary check of the information received, the data management or transfer, and the communication with filers.

Substitute assets: Assets that cannot be linked to an offense giving rise to confiscation, but that may be confiscated in substitution for such assets if the assets that are directly subject to confiscation cannot be located or are otherwise unavailable.

Suspicious activity report: See suspicious transaction report.

Suspicious transaction report (STR): A report filed by a financial institution or other reporting entity about a suspicious or potentially suspicious transaction or activity. The report, also known as a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR), is filed with the country’s FIU.

Tainted property: See property-based confiscation.

Target or targets: The suspect or suspects of an investigation.

Tort: A civil wrong, giving rise to a claim for damages.

Tracing: The process by which a claimant demonstrates the disposition of his property, identifies its proceeds, and justifies his claim that the proceeds can properly be regarded as representing his property.

Trust: Largely used as synonymous with “express trust”, this corporate vehicle provides for the separation of legal ownership from beneficial ownership. It is an arrangement whereby property (including real, tangible, and intangible) is managed by one person for the benefit of others. A trust is created by one or more “settlors” who entrust property to the trustee or trustees for a defined (set of) beneficiary (or beneficiaries). The trustee holds legal title to the trust property but for the benefit of the beneficiaries. The trustees owe a fiduciary duty to the beneficiaries, who are the beneficial owners of the trust property.

Trust and Company Service Providers (TCSPs): Any person or business that provides any of the following services to third parties: acting as a formation agent of legal persons; acting as (or arranging for another person to act as) a director or secretary of a company, a partner of a partnership, or a similar position in relation to other legal persons; providing a registered office, business address or accommodation, or correspondence or administrative address for a company, a partnership, or any other legal person or arrangements; acting as (or arranging for another person to act as) a trustee of an express trust; or acting as (or arranging for another person to act as) a nominee shareholder for another person.

UNCAC: United Nations Convention against Corruption. Entered into force on 14 December 2005.

Value-based confiscation: A confiscation action to recover the value of benefits that have been derived from criminal conduct. The source of the funds to be confiscated is irrelevant as the value-based court order can be applied to any property of the defendant.

Verification: The process of checking and analyzing the information disclosed. It may entail different types of actions such as monitoring, reviewing, inspecting, and auditing. Depending on the system’s design, verification may be a single-step process (such as screening for internal consistencies) or a multiple-step one (that may include checking for internal consistency, analyzing variations across years, and even comparing the declared data with outside sources of information).

Vienna Convention: United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances 1988.

Violator:  The person, known or unknown, who committed the unlawful activity upon which the NCB asset forfeiture is based. The term is used interchangeably with wrongdoer. See also claimant.

Winding up: The process of settling the accounts and liquidating the assets of a partnership or company, for the purpose of making a distribution and dissolving the concern.

Witness: Someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, either oral or written, of what he or she knows or claims to know about the matter before a court or before an official authorized to take such testimony. Evidence provided by witnesses, including expert witnesses, is frequently important in both civil and criminal asset recovery cases.

 


[1] As noted in the WBG paper on Anticorruption Initiatives: Reaffirming Commitment to a Development Priority, the UNCAC does not employ a definition for corruption due to the variance in legal definitions according to the laws of signatory countries. As in the paper, the term here is defined in the generic sense rather than a legal sense. 

Abbreviations

AC                                                     Anti-Corruption

AFU                                                  Asset Forfeiture Unit

AGI                                                   Actionable Governance Indicators

ANI                                                   National Integrity Agency, Romania

AMCATS                                          AMLO’s Consolidated Asset Tracking System (Thailand)

AML                                                 Anti-money-laundering

AML/CFT                                         Anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism

AMLA                                               Anti-Money Laundering Act (Thailand)

AMLB                                               Anti-Money Laundering Board (Thailand)

AMLO                                               Anti-Money Laundering Office (Thailand)

APEC                                                Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation

APG                                                  Asia/Pacific Group on Money-Laundering

AR                                                     Asset Recovery

ARA                                                  Asset Recovery Agency (United Kingdom)

ARINSA                                            Asset Recovery Inter-Agency Network for Southern Africa

ATS                                                   Alien Tort Statute USA

AUCPCC                                           African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption

BIC                                                    Bank identifier code

BO                                                    Beneficial Owner

CAC                                                   Client Acceptance Committee

CARIN                                               Camden Asset Recovery Inter-Agency Network

CDD                                                  Customer due diligence

CFATF                                               Caribbean Financial Action Task Force

CFT                                                   Combating the Financing of Terrorism

CGC                                                  General Comptroller’s Office, Controlaría General de Cuentas (Guatemala)

CHAPS                                              Clearing House Automated Payments System

CHIPS                                               Clearing House Interbank Payments System

CICAD                                               Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission

CiCIG                                                Comision Internacional Contra Impunidad en Guatemala

CNCP                                                Commonwealth Network of Contact Persons

CoE                                                   Council of Europe

COI                                                   Conflict of interest

CML                                                  Commonwealth Model Legislative Provisions on the Civil Recovery of Criminal Assets Including Terrorist Property

CoSP                                                 Conference of State Parties

CPS                                                   Crown Prosecution Service, United Kingdom

CTR                                                   Currency transaction report

CV                                                     Corporate vehicle

DEA                                                  U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration

DFID                                                 Department for International Development United Kingdom

DNE                                                  National Anti-Narcotics Agency Special Administration Unit, Dirección Nacional de Estupefacientes (Colombia)

DNFBPs                                            Designated nonfinancial businesses and professions

DRCI                                                 Department of Asset Recovery and International Cooperation Brazil

EC                                                     European Community

ECHR                                                European Court of Human Rights

ECJ                                                    European Court of Justice

ECOWAS                                          Economic Community of West African States

EDD                                                  Enhanced due diligence

EIN                                                    Employer Identification Number

EJN                                                   European Judicial Network

ESAAMLG                                        Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group

EU                                                     European Union

EWHC (Ch.)                                     England and Wales High Court (Chancery Division)

FARA                                                Foreign Agents Registration Act

FATF                                                 Financial Access Task Force

FATF 40+9                                       FATF Forty Recommendations on Money Laundering and Nine Special Recommendations on Terrorist Financing

FBI                                                    U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation

FCPA                                                 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

Fedwire                                           Fedwire Funds Service

FIU                                                    Financial intelligence unit

FRISCO                                             Fund for Rehabilitation, Social Investment and Fight against Organized Crime (Colombia)

FSRB                                                 FATF-Style Regional Body

G-8                                                   Group of Eight countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russian Federation, United Kingdom, United States)

G20                                                  Group of twenty finance ministers and central bank governors (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, the Republic of Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States)

GDP                                                  Gross domestic product

GRECO                                             Group of States against Corruption

IAAC                                                Independent Agency against Corruption (Mongolia)

IAACA                                              International Association of Anti-Corruption Agencies

IACAC                                               Inter-American Convention against Corruption

IACO                                                 Interpol Anti-Corruption Office

IAD                                                   Income and asset disclosure

IBC                                                    International Business Corporation

IBERRED                                           Red Iberoamericana de Cooperación Juridica Internacional

IC                                                      Introducer Certificate

ICAR                                                 International Centre for Asset Recovery

ICCPR                                               International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

ICE                                                    U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

ICSID                                                 International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes

ICSL                                                  International Court Sierra Leone

ICTR                                                  International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda

ICTY                                                  International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia

IMAC                                                Federal Act on International Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters (Switzerland)

IMF                                                   International Monetary Fund

IMoLIN                                             International Money Laundering Information Network

INTERPOL                                        International Criminal Police Organization MLA mutual legal assistance

IRS                                                    Internal Revenue Service (United States)

ITA                                                    International Trust Act

KACC                                                Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission

KIO                                                    Kuwaiti Investment Office

KYC                                                   Know your customer

LLC                                                    Limited Liability Company

LP                                                      Limited Partnership

LLP                                                    Limited Liability Partnership

MLA                                                  Mutual legal assistance

MLAT                                                Mutual legal assistance treaty

MoJ                                                  Ministry of Justice

MOU                                                Memorandum of understanding

MPS                                                  Metropolitan Police Service, United Kingdom

NAB                                                  National Accountability Bureau

NCB                                                  Non-conviction based

NGO                                                 Nongovernmental organization

OAS                                                  Organization of American States

OAS Model Regulation                 OAS/CICAD Model Regulations Concerning Laundering Offenses Connected to Illicit Drug      Trafficking and Other Serious Offenses

ODA                                                 Official development assistance

OECD                                                Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

OFC                                                   Offshore Financial Center

OHCHR                                             Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

PAM                                                 Public Accountability Mechanisms

PEP                                                   Politically exposed person

POCA                                                Proceeds of Crime Act

POCU                                               Proceeds of Corruption Unit, Metropolitan Police, London

PRMPS                                             Public Sector and Governance Department (World Bank)

PTC                                                   Private trust company

R.A.                                                   Republic Act (Philippines)

RICO                                                 Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations

SADC                                                Southern African Development Community

SAR                                                   Special Administrative Region

SAR                                                   Suspicious Activity Report

SCCU                                                Specialized Commercial Crime Unit -South Africa

SFO                                                   Serious Fraud Office (United Kingdom)

SOCA                                                Serious Organized Crime Agency. United Kingdom

StAR                                                 Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative

STR                                                   Suspicious transaction report

SWIFT                                               Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications

TCSP                                                 Trust and Company Service Providers

TI                                                       Transparency International

TIEA                                                  Tax Information Exchange Act

UAE                                                  United Arab Emirates

UMBRA                                            INTERPOL Tactical and Strategic Anti-Corruption knowledge database

UN                                                    United Nations

UNCAC                                             United Nations Convention against Corruption

UNODC                                            United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

UNTOC                                             United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime

VISTA                                                British Virgin Islands Special Trust Act

WDF                                                 World Duty Free Company Limited