ANABI becomes member of European Partners against Corruption (EPAC) network
The Romanian National Agency for the Management of Seized Assets (ANABI) officially joined the European Partners against Corruption (EPAC) network. This decision was adopted during the 23rd EPAC/EACN Annual Conference and General Assembly, held in Bucharest on November 26-27, 2024. The event was attended by 170 participants representing nearly 100 institutions from over 30 countries. Presentations were given by representatives of the United Nations, European Union, European Public Prosecutor's Office, Europol, Council of Europe, the U.S. Department of Justice, and anti-corruption bodies from other countries.
While presenting the mandate of the Agency, General Director Călinescu highlighted that the establishment and latter on strengthening of ANABI were achieved as part of the National Anticorruption Policy and reflects the commitments made at international level to fight serious crimes. This membership provides ANABI with the strategic opportunity to strengthen international collaboration in asset recovery, access best practices and innovative legal tools, and enhance its institutional capacity through thematic working groups and training programs offered by EPAC/EACN network.
EPAC/EACN meeting in Bucharest covered also the asset recovery as one of the main themes, ANABI team facilitating a workshop on this topic. Special attention was given to crypto assets, an increasingly significant area in the context of modern investigations, and to the importance of early identification and efficient seizure measures targeting criminal assets during investigations, with a focus on swift tracing through networks like the EU Asset Recovery Offices (ARO) platform and the CARIN network. Discussions emphasized the use of financial investigations, joint investigation teams (JITs), cross-border seizure orders, and pre-planning measures to ensure efficient and timely recovery operations. The cooperation with asset management offices (AMOs) was also highlighted as a key factor in achieving successful results. The session also featured insights from Mrs. Marjolijn van der HART – Head of IRC Compleet Den Haag, and CARIN contact point police, from The Netherlands, Mr. Peter Halpern, representative of the Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training, Department of justice, and Mrs. Jurgita STEFANOVIČIENĖ, Head of Asset Recovery Unit within Investigation Coordination Department at STT of Lithuania.
All these matters were also reflected in the Bucharest Declaration adopted during the 23rd EPAC/EACN Annual Conference and General Assembly in Bucharest. Countries of EPAC/EACN are invited to:
- Assess in the early stages of anticorruption investigations the need for measures targeting criminal assets. The focus should be on a swift tracing of criminal assets via formal and informal networks (such as EU ARO platform and CARIN), conducting financial investigations, use of joint investigation teams (JITs), issuing of cross-border seizing orders, use of pre-planning in doing this, as well as engaging into cooperation with other agencies including asset management offices (AMOs);
Furthermore, the Bucharest Declaration:
- Urges the Council of Europe jurisdictions to engage at the level of Committee of Experts on Criminal Asset Recovery (PC-RAC) and to contribute to the ongoing process of negotiating the additional protocol supplementing the Council of Europe Convention on laundering, search, seizure and confiscation of the proceeds from crime and on the financing of terrorism (CETS no. 198). This new legal instrument will further expand the asset recovery instruments available for law enforcement and judiciary;
For more details about the 23rd EPAC/EACN Annual Conference and General Assembly in Bucharest and its outcomes, please visit the official EPAC/EACN website at https://www.epac-eacn.org.