The 11th Annual General Meeting of the Asset Recovery Interagency Network, Asia Pacific (ARIN‑AP) opened in New Delhi on Monday under India’s presidency, with the capital emphasizing the “speed of response” in exchanging information among member countries to deprive cross‑border criminals of illicit profits.
The four‑day conference is hosted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the federal anti‑money laundering agency, and brings together delegations from member jurisdictions, observer organisations, and representatives from various Indian probe and intelligence agencies. ARIN‑AP, launched in November 2013, is an informal network of law‑enforcement and judicial contact points that works on recovering the proceeds of crime and ensuring cross‑border confiscation of illicit assets across the Asia‑Pacific region.
During the event, ED Director Rahul Navin outlined the asset‑recovery process as a sequence of tracing, securing, confiscation, and management and return. He urged that special attention be paid to cross‑border confiscation, enforcement of foreign orders, and repatriation so that criminal assets are not dissipated before agencies can seize them. Navin highlighted that since April 2024 the ED has fulfilled nearly 90 per cent of assistance requests received, in full or in part, using statutory powers to obtain information directly from banks and other entities.
The ED chief set two priorities for the Network under India’s presidency: speeding up responses to requests and completing cases. He said the meeting would strengthen working relationships among contact points, encourage faster informal and formal exchanges, and focus on the later stages of recovery where confiscated assets are returned. ARIN‑AP currently has 32 member jurisdictions and 10 observers, including INTERPOL, UNODC, the World Bank, and sister asset‑recovery networks from other regions.
