Recovering the International Proceeds of Crime through Inter-Agency Networks, November 2023

1. This report on Asset Recovery Inter-Agency Networks (ARINs) is specifically designed for policymakers and law enforcement agencies across the globe. ARINs help law enforcement agencies (LEAs) across different countries work together to track money gained from crimes like money laundering and other related offenses. This report is aimed at provides a broad review of ARINs. It covers their global impact, roles, management, challenges, and cooperation with other international groups. This study is based on a project by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), aiming to improve collaboration with ARINs, their secretariats, and other global organizations focusing on asset recovery.

2. ARINs facilitate informal assistance during the asset recovery process, including asset identification, tracing, seizing, freezing, confiscation and repatriation efforts. Despite the ARINs’ important role, there is often a lack of clarity among policymakers regarding the nature of ARINs and their contributions to the global landscape of criminal asset recovery. The use of ARINs is also not wide-spread or systematic, with only a handful of investigations facilitated by these networks globally.

3. ARINs play a vital role in building trust among law enforcement practitioners. They also collaborate with various international organisations in this domain and can act as intermediaries with other regional networks. Nevertheless, co-ordination between ARINs and other international organisations often falls short, limiting opportunities to bolster member country capacities.

4. While the coverage of ARINs has expanded, regional gaps persist, notably in the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Africa regions. Currently, there are 178 Member jurisdictions within ARIN networks, including 159 members of the FATF's Global Network of 205 countries and jurisdictions.

5. ARINs operate independently, each with its own governance structure, mandate and guiding principles. While participation in ARINs is not compulsory, they are proven to build stronger ties between investigators and asset recovery offices. This leads to greater trust and more open lines of communication across borders. As a result, countries have successfully provided important and sometimes crucial details on assets like the existence of bank accounts, businesses, real estate and registered possessions of suspected criminals and money launderers in other jurisdictions.

6. ARINs facilitate many cases, but they are also facing resource challenges. Figures are difficult to come by but estimates and qualitative feedback suggest some leading ARINs can oversee hundreds, if not thousands of tracing requests from members yearly. While this is not the case in all ARINs, these figures show the important role that can play in international investigations. Nevertheless, in most of these networks Secretariats, staffing can be a limiting factor. The resourcing from one ARIN to the next varies greatly, but in general they experience difficulties in assisting countries and following-up on requests, which can affect overall effectiveness on asset recovery. Ensuring the long-term financial sustainability of secretariat functions is a common challenge for ARINs. Other obstacles to the effectiveness of ARINs include language and cultural barriers.

7. The relationship between ARINs and the FATF-Style Regional Bodies (FSRBs) varies considerably from one region to another. In some cases, there is close co-ordination with the FSRBs, while in others, there is none.

8. In summary, this report equips policymakers with a deeper understanding of the role of ARINs and identifies areas with potential for improving practices, developing enhanced performance monitoring, and strengthening collaboration with international organizations. It underscores the importance of robust data collection and reporting to demonstrate the invaluable role of ARINs in the global fight against financial crime.

9. There is often confusion among policymakers and the broader public about what an ARIN is, what it does, and how it adds value to the global criminal asset recovery landscape. This section provides some clarity on the general roles and responsibilities of ARINs. It gives concrete examples of how and when countries use ARINs to advance investigations. It also provides an overview of the geographic coverage of ARINs.