Sumario: | An unprecedented new international moral and legal rule forbids one state from hosting money stolen by the leaders of another state. The aim is to counter grand corruption or kleptocracy ('rule by thieves'), when leaders of poorer countries - such as Marcos in the Philippines, Mobutu in the Congo, and more recently those overthrown in revolutions in the Arab world and Ukraine - loot billions of dollars at the expense of their own citizens. This money tends to end up hosted in rich countries. These host states now have a duty to block, trace, freeze, and seize these illicit funds and hand them back to the countries from which they were stolen. In 'The Despot's Guide to Wealth Management', J.C. Sharman asks how this anti-kleptocracy regime came about, how well it is working, and how it could work better.
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