The new treaty modernizes the legal and institutional framework for asset recovery in response to increasingly sophisticated, transnational and technologically advanced criminal networks, the Council of Europe said in a press release.
It enhances authorities’ ability to monitor and disrupt suspicious transactions and confiscate assets, including criminally derived cryptoassets.
“Democratic security depends on strong institutions, public trust and the rule of law – pillars that are undermined by illicit financial flows as they move freely through the global financial system, facilitated by new technologies. Through this protocol, states are better equipped to combat money laundering, disrupt criminal networks, protect democracy across countries and technologies, and better protect victims of financial crime,” said Alain Berset, Secretary General of the Council of Europe.
New mechanisms to combat money laundering
The Protocol modernizes and strengthens the Warsaw Convention – a fundamental instrument in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing – and builds on more than two decades of its implementation, the revised standards of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and EU legislation.
A number of important new mechanisms are introduced. States will be able to confiscate any assets of a convicted person, other than those related to specific offenses, if a domestic court finds that the property was derived from criminal activity.
Non-conviction-based confiscation will also be possible by court order if it is suspected that the assets are the proceeds of criminal activity.
Assets of criminal origin held by third parties may also be seized or confiscated, with safeguards for persons acting in good faith.
More rights for the competent authorities
The Protocol requires each party to establish or designate an asset recovery office tasked with tracing assets of criminal origin. As well as an asset management authority responsible for the proper management of frozen, seized and confiscated assets.
The instrument also strengthens financial intelligence units by expanding their powers to obtain data from a wider range of entities, including virtual asset service providers, and expanding the situations in which these units exercise their monitoring and suspension powers.
Competent authorities will have rapid access to data held by financial institutions and virtual asset service providers, in particular information on account holders and crypto-asset owners, through centralized automated or similarly effective mechanisms.
Expanding opportunities for cooperation
To enhance international cooperation, the protocol expands and improves information sharing, introduces the possibility of joint investigative teams, establishes forms for cross-border cooperation, and regulates asset-sharing agreements between States.
Direct, mandatory cooperation between asset recovery authorities and between the asset management authorities of the parties will facilitate information sharing and expedited action to support the freezing or seizure of assets subject to confiscation.
A key feature of the protocol is the priority given to victims. Under certain conditions, States may return confiscated assets to their rightful owners or compensate victims even before a final confiscation order is made.
The Protocol also encourages States to use confiscated or seized criminal assets for social or community purposes, such as using assets seized from drug traffickers to support rehabilitation centers.
The additional protocol will be open for signature at a conference on cybercrime to be held in Strasbourg on October 14, 2026. Five ratifications are required for the protocol to enter into force, including three from Council of Europe member states.
