Lucia Coerman speaks at the IBA’s Second Annual Asset Recovery Conference

On 6 December 2024, Lucia Coerman, was invited to speak on a panel at the International Bar Association’s Second Annual Asset Recovery Conference, which was hosted in Madrid.

The panel centred on the question, “How are State Parties’ corruption claims being treated by other State Parties’ courts worldwide? Has progress stalled?” Topics of discussion included asset recovery flops and triumphs, whether Article 53 of the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) is being implemented in a sensible way worldwide, and whether it is still impossible for many jurisdictions to litigate their losses.

Article 53 of UNCAC provides for direct recovery of assets – it stipulates a state should be able to initiate a civil action in a foreign jurisdiction to establish title and ownership of property. It also seeks to guarantee a regime by which courts can order compensation or damages to a foreign state and recognise them as legitimate owners of property.

Lucia discussed the case of Equatorial Guinea (“EG”), which involved a series of proceedings that sought to recover assets from Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue (Teodorin), the Vice President of EG, and son of the long-standing president. Teodorin remains Vice President, it is rumoured he is to succeed his father as president. Assets were recovered in the US, Switzerland, France and Brazil, however many of the confiscated assets are yet to be returned.

Lucia focused in particular on the proceedings in the US and Switzerland. She explained the asset recovery mechanisms used in each country, including civil forfeiture (civil recovery) in the US and criminal proceedings in Switzerland, discussing the difficulties faced in each case. Both cases ended in settlements in which Teodorin was allowed to keep a majority of assets, and there were no findings of guilt in the criminal case.

The EG case highlights that Article 53 does not envisage direct recovery of assets in ongoing kleptocracies. The lack of participation of genuine victims in asset recovery proceedings can lead to seriously fraught results, and thus there needs to be some rethinking around who victims of corruption are and a broadening of the standing of those able to bring claims, or participate in proceedings, to recover assets in corruption cases.

Learn more about the conference, here.