Foreign Illicit Assets Act
Swiss law about asset seizure / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Foreign Illicit Assets Act (FIAA) (German: Bundesgesetz über die Sperrung und die Rückerstattung unrechtmässig erworbener Vermögenswerte ausländischer politisch exponierter Personen (SRVG), French: Loi sur les valeurs patrimoniales d’origine illicite, LVP, Italian: Legge sui valori patrimoniali di provenienza illecita, LVP), is a Swiss federal law that provides for the freezing, confiscation and restitution of assets of foreign politically exposed persons (e.g., heads of state, senior politicians, close associates) that have been acquired through corruption or other criminal means, and which have been deposited in Swiss banks.[1]
Foreign Illicit Assets Act (FIAA) | |
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Federal Assembly of Switzerland | |
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Territorial extent | Switzerland |
Enacted by | Federal Assembly of Switzerland |
Enacted | 18 December 2015 |
Commenced | 1 July 2016 |
Repeals | |
Restitution of Illicit Assets Act (2010) | |
Status: Current legislation |
It was adopted on 18 December 2015 by the Federal Assembly and came into force on 1 July 2016. It replaces the Restitution of Illicit Assets Act (German: Bundesgesetz über die Rückerstattung unrechtmässig erworbener Vermögenswerte politisch exponierter Personen, RuVG, French: Loi sur la restitution des avoirs illicites, LRAI, Italian: Legge sulla restituzione degli averi di provenienza illecita, LRAI) from 2010.[2]
Switzerland was first confronted with the issue of the return of illicit assets in 1986, during the fall of the Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos, where it froze USD 685 million of assets and restituted them to the Philippines. However, until the law of 2010, these measures were taken on an ad hoc basis by relying on the provisions of the Swiss constitution, lacking a formal legal basis.[3]
The FIAA is administered by the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.