APEC Anti-Corruption and Transparency Working Group Adopts Plans to Strengthen its Efforts

April 2012

From February 2–3, delegates from the 21 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies met in Moscow for the 2012 inaugural senior officials meeting. During the meeting, Russia assumed the position of Anti-Corruption and Transparency (ACT) working group chair. The ABA Rule of Law Initiative’s (ABA ROLI’s) regional anti-corruption adviser assisted David Luna, the 2011 chair of the ACT working group and director of Transnational Criminal Threats and Illicit Networks at the U.S. Department of State, in developing the group’s agenda and initiatives, which shaped discussions during the 2012 inaugural meeting.

Luna and the U.S. delegation worked with Timur Eyvazov, incoming ACT working group chair, to lead the working group through meetings on several initiatives, including an anti-corruption workshop that Thailand will sponsor in July. The workshop will focus on combating corruption through financial investigation, international asset recovery and anti-money laundering efforts.

The ACT working group also adopted an anti-corruption reporting template, which is designed to ensure uniformity and completeness in APEC economies’ reports on their anti-corruption programs. Finally, the committee adopted a work plan for 2012 and decided to conduct self-assessment. APEC senior officials will have their next meeting on May 27 in Kazan, Russia.

To learn more about our regional anti-corruption work in Asia, contact the ABA Rule of Law Initiative at rol@americanbar.org.