APEC’s Anti-Corruption and Transparency Working Group has spent China’s host year on one question in particular: how corrupt proceeds move through cryptocurrency, and how governments can trace, freeze and recover them. The work matters to virtual asset service providers, banks and any company whose compliance program covers bribery and money laundering in the Asia-Pacific.
From Guangzhou to Dalian
The group set the direction at its February meeting in Guangzhou. “As corruption becomes more cross-border and technologically enabled, including through cryptocurrencies, a fragmented response is no longer sufficient,” said its chair, Chen Long. Members reviewed how they use open-source data, big data and artificial intelligence in investigations, and advanced an initiative on crypto money laundering in corruption cases. The APEC Secretariat said that work was expected to produce a good practices compilation during 2026.
In August, the group held its 43rd meeting in Dalian, followed by a workshop on crypto money laundering for anti-corruption officials, financial regulators and international law enforcement bodies. Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption said it would share investigation experience on crypto-related corruption cases at the workshop, together with Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission.
“Corruption is not a static crime, it adapts to new tools and technologies,” Chen said in Dalian. “Our joint task is to make sure enforcement adapts just as fast.”
The recovery gap
The APEC Secretariat’s account of the workshop gives a sense of scale. Only 3.8 percent of the $1.5 billion stolen in the Bybit theft has been recovered, it said. Research presented at the workshop found that 80 percent of jurisdictions rate their own ability to recover stolen crypto assets as low to moderate.
Participants discussed screening each crypto transaction against the identities of both sender and recipient before funds move. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime said virtual asset service providers should build internal monitoring systems for early warning. Interpol said tracing and recovery need different technology, expertise and legal frameworks. Economies also stressed real-time, informal information sharing, because formal requests can take months.
What companies should note
None of this creates binding rules. APEC working groups produce guidance and capacity building, not law. But the direction of the discussion is consistent: more data sharing between authorities, closer attention to virtual asset service providers, and an expectation that platforms detect suspicious flows before funds leave. Compliance teams at exchanges, payment firms and banks with crypto exposure can use this work as an indicator of where national supervisors in APEC economies are focusing.
The group’s work also continues long-standing APEC commitments, including the 2014 Beijing Declaration on Fighting Corruption and implementation of the UN Convention against Corruption.
Sources
- APEC: Officials Sharpen Tools to Tackle Corruption Laundered Through Crypto (August 26, 2026)
- APEC: APEC Reinforce Push Against Corruption to Safeguard Growth (February 4, 2026)
- Independent Commission Against Corruption, Hong Kong: ICAC Commissioner leads delegation to APEC anti-corruption meetings in Dalian (August 17, 2026)
