Asset recovery is a term generally used to describe efforts made by a victim of a crime, usually a fraud, to get his or her stolen value back. It is a burgeoning area of practice, in major part because the quantum of value stolen and the overall risk has increased so much over the last 25 years.
The Panama Papers made a difference, but bashing Britain’s overseas territories because of historical failings rectified years ago needs to stop.
The pressure on compliance professionals is immense. The individuals charged with the responsibility will always have the sword of Damocles hanging over their heads.
Not only does the UK’s Proceeds of Crime Act seek to right wrongs, in doing so it discourages others from following in the offender’s footsteps and removes the allure of their negative and toxic role model.
Martin Kenney speaks to Who’s Who Legal after being chosen in 2017 as the world’s top offshore asset recovery lawyer and a 2018 ‘Thought Leader’.
Public UBO registers are only as good as the information provided by those required to furnish it.
Having browbeaten the House of Commons into enacting a statute seeking to impose public ultimate beneficial ownership registers on the United Kingdom’s overseas territories, such as the Virgin Islands, there are moves afoot to legally fortify this legislative decision by declaring it under the heading of national security.
Russia and its oligarchs are not alone in their kleptomaniac, money-laundering endeavours.
It cannot be over-emphasized that the UBO information held in “controlled” transparent systems, like the one in the BVI, is of very great investigative value.
Many of us who operate in the Caribbean are not surprised by ConocoPhillips’ move to seize assets from Venezuela’s state oil company.
