Full Description
The fight against dirty money is not a new topic, nor a recent problem. It has existed within international and national agendas since the 1980s. Nonetheless, the evolving complexity of criminal skills and networks; the increasingly global dimension of crime; the financial crisis; and the alleged unsatisfactory results of the efforts hitherto undertaken cause us to re-pose and re-discuss some questions.
This book addresses several issues concerning the reasons, objectives and scope of national and supranational strategies targeting criminal money, as well as the concrete modalities to overcome its obstacles. The main objective is to explore where the EU stands and where it ought to go, providing useful input for policy-makers and further research. Nevertheless, the problems are not limited to the EU area, and assets - particularly money - cross EU borders much more easily than people do. The reflections developed in the chapters, therefore, aim at going beyond these EU borders.
The book is divided into two parts. The first one focuses on the core of asset recovery policies, namely confiscation or forfeiture laws, and explores in particular some issues concerning the respect of fundamental rights. The second part addresses other problematic aspects related to the asset recovery process, such as the return of assets to victim countries, the cross-border investigations on dirty money, and the social use of confiscated assets.
Contents
Asset Recovery in the EU: Towards a Comprehensive Enforcement Model beyond Confiscation? An Introduction
Katalin Ligeti and Michele Simonato
Part I: Forfeiture and Fundamental Rights: Open Questions in the Twenty-First Century
1. Confiscation and the Concept of Punishment: Can There be a Confiscation Without a Conviction?
Michele Panzavolta
2. The History of Confiscation Laws: From the Book of Exodus to the War on White-Collar Crime
Michaël Fernandez-Bertier
3. Civil Forfeiture in Ireland: Two Decades of the Proceeds of Crime Act and the Criminal Assets Bureau
Colin King
4. The Problematic Nature of Asset Recovery Measures: Recent Developments of the Italian Preventive Confiscation
Francesco Mazzacuva
5. Extended Confiscation: Criminal Assets or Criminal Owners?
Johan Boucht
6. Modern Forms of Confiscation and Protection of Third Parties
Isidoro Blanco Cordero
Part II: Not Only About Confiscation: Towards Comprehensive Policies on
Asset Recovery
7. Tax, Money Laundering and Offshore: The HSBC Suisse Affair
Peter Alldridge
8. Asset Recovery in Four Dimensions: Returning Wealth to Victim Countries as a Challenge for Global Governance
Radha Ivory
9. Restitution of Dirty Assets: A Swiss Template for the International Community
Frank Meyer
10. The Relevance of Asset Recovery Policies in Transitional Societies: The Croatian Perspective
Elizabeta Ivicevic Karas and Suncana Roksandic Vidlicka
11. The American Perspective on Recovering Criminal Proceeds in Criminal and Non-Conviction Based Proceedings
Stefan D Cassella
12. The 'Pre-investigative' Role of Financial Intelligence Units in Recovering Assets
Marc Penna
13. Digital Currencies and the Anti-money Laundering/Counter-terrorism Financing Regulations in
the EU: Imaginary Risk or Real Challenge?
Jacek Czarnecki
14. Asset Sharing as a Tool for a More Efficient Cross-Border Asset Recovery in the EU? The EU Asset Sharing Model and its Implementation in Belgium and the Netherlands
Laura Vande Reyde and Dirk Van Daele
15. The Social Reuse of Confiscated Assets in EU Member States: From Current Experiences to an EU Policy for a 'Powered-by-Citizens' Fight Against Crime
Barbara Vettori and Andrea Di Nicola
