12 December 2018
The External Relations Minister, Senator Ian Gorst, has signed an asset-sharing agreement to return confiscated assets to Kenya as part of ongoing work to tackle financial crime.
Senator Gorst signed two international arrangements to promote greater cooperation between Jersey and Kenya: a Memorandum of Understanding on Financial Cooperation with the Government of Kenya and the Framework for Return of Assets from Corruption and Crime to Kenya (FRACCK).
Senator Gorst commented: “The governments of Jersey and Kenya have a strong record of working together to tackle corruption. For over a decade, both governments have cooperated through mutual legal assistance in the prosecution of high-profile financial crime cases.
“The governments of the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Jersey have agreed with the Government of Kenya to establish the FRACCK, as a multilateral framework agreement – the first of its kind - to return confiscated assets to Kenya. The framework represents a significant achievement in relation to the confiscation and return of stolen assets and I hope it will act as an example of the kind of innovative legal approach the international community can explore to secure meaningful progress in asset recovery. I am delighted to have been able to meet with the Attorney General of Kenya to sign the FRACCK.”
Kenyan Attorney General, Paul Kariuki added: “Our respective governments’ cooperation in the timely sharing of financial intelligence and subsequent recovery of assets is critical in the fight against corruption and money laundering.”
The multilateral framework agreement commits the partners to the following principles:
- returning confiscated assets derived from corruption to Kenya;
- returned assets should be used to pursue clearly identified development objectives that benefit the people of Kenya and support Vision 2030;
- projects to deliver these objectives should be defined by the Government of Kenya and agreed to by Partners.
The signing of the FRACCK is just one example of the island’s commitment to working across borders to tackle financial crime. For example, the island is a core donor to the International Centre for Asset Recovery, through which Jersey supports work in Kenya to prevent and fight international financial crime and recover stolen assets.
In May last year, anti-corruption was top of the agenda when Senator Gorst met His Excellency President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya in London. The two agreed to develop a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on financial cooperation. Yesterday morning (11 November 2018), Senator Gorst also signed this MOU with Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich. The MOU outlines a series of initiatives to promote greater cooperation between Kenya and Jersey across of range of areas of mutual interest including asset sharing, collaborating in tackling financial crime and increasing cross-border trade and investment, including through a Double Taxation Agreement (DTA).
Senator Gorst added: “The MOU is testament to Jersey and Kenya's ambitions to work together to enhance our partnership for the future. I firmly believe that Jersey has a role to play in providing high-quality, well-regulated capital in the form of Foreign Direct Investment that will be needed to realise HE The President of Kenya's Big Four agenda: food security, affordable housing, manufacturing and affordable healthcare.
“Jersey's well-earned reputation has helped attract capital from across the world, which in turn is invested into the UK, Europe and further afield - including in Africa. Jersey is custodian to US$1.7 trillion and currently provides up to 1.5% of all global FDI into Africa. We want more of this to go from Jersey into Kenya and a DTA would greatly help facilitate these investment flows.”
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