Promotion of International Cooperation to Combat Illicit Financial Flows and Strengthen Good Practices on Assets Return to Foster Sustainable Development

A/RES/73/222View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 18d Promotion of international cooperation to combat illicit financial flows in order to foster sustainable development, published in 2018.

What other versions does this mandate have?

8 versions · 2018–2025

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/80/126

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2025	A/RES/80/126	Promotion of international cooperation to combat illicit financial flows and strengthen good practices on assets return to foster sustainable development	5,359	76%Compare
2024	A/RES/79/234	Promotion of international cooperation to combat illicit financial flows and strengthen good practices on assets return to foster sustainable development	5,122	88%Compare
2023	A/RES/78/140	Promotion of international cooperation to combat illicit financial flows and strengthen good practices on assets return to foster sustainable development	4,717	93%Compare
2022	A/RES/77/154	Promotion of international cooperation to combat illicit financial flows and strengthen good practices on assets return to foster sustainable development	4,505	51%Compare
2022	A/RES/76/196	Promotion of international cooperation to combat illicit financial flows and strengthen good practices on assets return to foster sustainable development	3,470	83%Compare

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

5 reports · 2022–2026

Year	Symbol	Title	Mandate resolution
2026	A/81/269	International coordination and cooperation to combat illicit financial flows report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/80/126
2025	A/80/224	International coordination and cooperation to combat illicit financial flows report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/79/234
2024	A/79/186	International coordination and cooperation to combat illicit financial flows report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/78/140
2023	A/78/186	International coordination and cooperation to combat illicit financial flows report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/77/154
2022	A/77/304	International coordination and cooperation to combat illicit financial flows report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/76/196

What subjects does this mandate have?

5 subjects

Crime Prevention Criminal Assets Illicit Funds Transfer International Cooperation Sustainable Development

What’s in this document?

23 operative paragraphs

Welcomes the inclusion in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development⁴ of, inter alia, the target related to combating illicit financial flows, recalls that the Sustainable Development Goals and associated targets are integrated and indivisible and balance the three dimensions of sustainable development, and in this regard looks forward to their achievement;

⁴Resolution 70/1.

Notes the inclusion in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development⁵ of actions intended to combat illicit financial flows, and, in this regard, looks forward to their implementation;

⁵Resolution 69/313, annex.

Reaffirms its commitment to work to strengthen regulatory frameworks at all levels in accordance with international standards and to further increase transparency and accountability of financial institutions and the corporate sector, as well as public administrations;

Welcomes the ongoing efforts of Member States to enhance knowledge and broaden understanding of the challenges and opportunities involved in international cooperation to combat illicit financial flows and strengthen good practices on assets return consistent with the United Nations Convention against Corruption1 so as to foster sustainable development;

Notes that developing countries are particularly susceptible to the negative impact of illicit financial flows;

Acknowledges that combating illicit financial flows requires a range of actions that includes deterring, detecting, preventing and countering such flows;

Notes that new technologies have opened the door for a growing number of people in developing countries to access digital financial services and can both increase efficiency in revenue collection and strengthen the fight against illicit financial flows;

Expresses its concern that virtual assets are increasingly being used for illicit activities, and in this regard encourages Member States and other relevant organizations to consider taking measures to prevent and counter their illicit use;

Urges Member States that have not yet done so to consider ratifying or acceding to the United Nations Convention against Corruption and the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the Protocols thereto,⁶ and also urges States parties to those Conventions and Protocols to make efforts towards their effective implementation;

⁶United Nations, Treaty Series, vols. 2225, 2237, 2241 and 2326, No. 39574.

Calls upon the relevant organizations of the United Nations system, within their respective mandates and resources, to ensure that no one is left behind and no country is left behind in the implementation of the present resolution;

Encourages further efforts by relevant national and international actors to mitigate transfer pricing not in line with the arm’s length principle and trade misinvoicing and to avoid base erosion and profit shifting, bearing in mind the need for developing countries to strengthen their domestic resource mobilization in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals;

Encourages countries and relevant multilateral and international organizations to continue their efforts to provide, upon request, technical assistance and capacity-building assistance to developing countries in order to improve their capacity to prevent, detect and combat illicit financial flows and strengthen good practices on assets return to foster sustainable development;

Encourages greater international cooperation to support African and other regional initiatives to combat illicit financial flows;

Calls upon all countries to cooperate, in accordance with applicable bilateral or multilateral agreements, in the areas of mutual legal assistance and administrative assistance in tax matters, as well as the automatic exchange of financial account information;

Recognizes the importance of enhanced capacity for data collection and analysis to combat illicit financial flows, emphasizing the need to increase the exchange of data within national Government institutions as well as from international institutions;

Emphasizes the importance of the ongoing efforts of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, in coordination with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and other institutions, to develop a methodology to produce estimates of the total value of inward and outward illicit financial flows;

Reiterates its call to the President of the General Assembly to convene, during the seventy-third session of the Assembly, within existing resources and in coordination with all relevant stakeholders, a high-level meeting on international cooperation to combat illicit financial flows and strengthen good practices on assets return to foster sustainable development;

Notes that international cooperation in combating illicit financial flows is a work in progress that must continue to be pursued, and encourages all countries to develop effective tools and create a policy environment for combating illicit financial flows, in accordance with the existing relevant international frameworks, including the United Nations Convention against Corruption;

Notes with concern that proceeds emanating from offences established under the United Nations Convention against Corruption have yet to be disposed of in favour of the legitimate owners and victims of the crimes, and pledges to deter, detect, prevent and counter corruption, increase transparency and promote good governance;

Takes note with appreciation of the first meeting of the Global Forum on Asset Recovery, which took place in December 2017, supported by the Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative, a joint initiative of the World Bank and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and welcomes the adoption of the Global Forum on Asset Recovery communiqué;

Stresses that anti-corruption measures should be an integral part of national development policies and strategies;

Looks forward to the inclusion, in the 2019 report of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Financing for Development, of an analysis of international cooperation to combat illicit financial flows and strengthen good practices on assets return to foster sustainable development, pursuant to the mandate of the Task Force, and also looks forward to the deliberations of the Economic and Social Council forum on financing for development follow-up;

Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its seventy-fourth session under the item entitled “Macroeconomic policy questions”, a sub-item entitled “Promotion of international cooperation to combat illicit financial flows and strengthen good practices on assets return to foster sustainable development”, unless otherwise agreed.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What other versions does this mandate have?

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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