Suchergebnisse

Cover -- Half Title -- Series Page -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- List of illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- Introduction -- The arrival of anti-corruption on the global agenda -- Comparing the scope and legal design of agreements -- The argument in brief: diffusion and signaling motives -- Why study anti-corruption agreements? -- Chapter outline -- Notes -- 1. The argument: Diffusion and signaling motives -- The diffusion of international agreements -- Agency in international organizations -- Signaling motives as a scope condition -- The effects of different audiences -- Alternative explanations -- Conclusion -- Notes -- 2. International anti-corruption agreements in comparison -- Mapping the global landscape of anti-corruption -- Summary: first movers, laggards, outliers -- Comparing the scope and legal design of the agreements -- How do ideas spread? Evidence of diffusion processes -- Conclusion -- Notes -- 3. Organization of American States: Activist governments and domestic reference models -- History, design, and implementation -- Motivations and drivers -- Tracing the drafts over time -- Evidence of diffusion -- Conclusion -- Notes -- 4. African Union: Development cooperation, non-state actors, and external reference models -- History, design, and implementation -- Motives and drivers -- Tracing the drafts over time -- Evidence of diffusion -- Conclusion -- Notes -- 5. Conclusion: Lessons to draw from the global patchwork -- Enforcement, compromises, and illusionary giants -- Signaling motives as scope conditions -- Anti-corruption as an instance of diffusion -- Implications and contribution to the literature -- Outlook: can these agreements be effective? -- Notes -- List of anti-corruption documents -- Additional data on scope conditions -- List of interviews -- Bibliography -- Index.

Returning the ill-gotten gains of corrupt officials to their rightful owners has become a global priority since the adoption of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC). Assets acquired through corruption and then transferred abroad are part of the broader phenomenon of illicit financial flows (IFFs), which deprive developing countries of their domestic resources. According to some estimates, tens of billions of dollars are lost to different kinds of IFFs from Africa every year. Asset recovery as envisaged by UNCAC offers a path to repatriate the share of IFFs that relates to corruption, although the total amount recovered so far pales in comparison to the estimated outflows. How can asset recovery serve development goals? Practitioners and activists can build on a range of initiatives from development cooperation, mutual legal assistance, and rules concerning financial transparency. New policies in the United States, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom show how key jurisdictions increasingly take a progressive stance on asset recovery and work with developing countries to overcome obstacles. Yet challenges and blind spots remain. To make the most of the existing tools, political objectives must be aligned across several dimensions of foreign policy and financial regulation.