New Delhi, Sep 28 (SocialNews.XYZ) India is hosting the 11th Annual General Meeting of the Asset Recovery Interagency Network, Asia Pacific (ARIN-AP), in New Delhi from September 28 to October 1. The event is being organised under India’s Presidency of the network for the year, with the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) as the nodal agency and host. A Steering Group meeting preceded the AGM.
The Director of the ED addressed the inaugural session, while the Special Director (Headquarters) read out a message from the Revenue Secretary. The Director of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office of the Republic of Korea, which serves as the ARIN-AP secretariat, also spoke.
ARIN-AP, launched in Korea in November 2013, is an informal network of law-enforcement and judicial contact points modelled on Europe’s CARIN network. It seeks to improve the recovery of proceeds of crime through rapid information exchange, including with jurisdictions lacking mutual legal assistance treaties. Each member nominates two contact points, one from law enforcement and one from judicial or prosecutorial authorities. The network currently has 32 member jurisdictions and 10 observers, including INTERPOL, UNODC and the World Bank.
This is the first AGM hosted by India. India was inducted into the ARIN-AP Steering Group at the Sydney AGM in 2024 and entrusted with the 2026 Presidency. The ED Director thanked members for sustaining the network and acknowledged the example set by Australia and Mongolia, which hosted the previous two AGMs.
In his opening address, the Director said asset recovery involves tracing, securing, confiscation, management and return, and cases can fail at any stage. He noted that international cooperation is strongest in the early stages, while cross-border confiscation, enforcement of foreign orders and repatriation often slow down. The meeting's theme focuses on these later stages.
He highlighted challenges such as illegal online betting platforms, cyber-enabled frauds, rapid conversion into virtual assets and misuse of payment gateways. He stressed that ARIN-AP’s practitioner-to-practitioner channel complements formal mutual legal assistance by enabling faster action before assets are dissipated. Since April 2024, the ED has executed nearly 90 per cent of assistance requests received through the network.
The Director set two priorities for India’s Presidency: faster response to requests and faster case completion. He proposed that the network track the number of cases in which assets are actually confiscated and returned.
The Revenue Secretary, in his message, reaffirmed the government’s whole-of-government approach and support for the ED’s work in asset recovery.
The programme will cover revised FATF standards, regional trends in illicit financial flows, cross-border tracing, freezing of virtual assets, non-conviction-based confiscation and return of assets to victims. The gathering aims to strengthen cooperation in tracing, confiscation and return of proceeds of crime.
India assumed the ARIN-AP Presidency for 2026 after Mongolia handed over the role during the previous AGM. The official theme of the 2026 meeting is “Closing the Loop: From Tracing to Return”, emphasising the complete cycle of asset recovery.
Delegates will exchange experiences on tracing assets across borders, overcoming legal hurdles, and improving the final step of returning confiscated proceeds. Discussions will also cover challenges such as virtual assets, complex corporate structures used to hide illicit wealth, and the need for faster information-sharing mechanisms.
By hosting the AGM, India seeks to strengthen regional and international partnerships to combat money laundering and recover assets linked to criminal activities.
Source: IANS
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