I call the meeting to order.
Pursuant to the order of reference on Thursday, April 14, 2016, and section 20 of the Freezing Assets of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act, which requires a statutory review of the act, I want to welcome everyone to our meeting here today. I want to also welcome those of you who are joining us via video conference from the east and west coasts.
Joining us from Switzerland but actually in New York today is Gretta Fenner, managing director of the Basel Institute on Governance. Gretta, welcome. We're glad to have you here today. We'll get your testimony very shortly.
Then, as an individual, we have Gerry Ferguson, distinguished professor of law, Faculty of Law, University of Victoria, via video conference from Victoria, British Columbia. Gerry, we're glad to have you here as well.
Our normal custom and procedure is to start with your opening testimony, and then we'll go around the room over the next hour to ask questions back and forth from the government and from the opposition, based on your testimony.
Mr. Ferguson, I'll have you start first. The floor is yours; we'll turn it over to you. We look forward to your testimony, and then we'll move over to Gretta after that.