These teams were brought about as a product of the government’s Asset Recovery Strategy, which aimed, among other things, to make greater use of the investigation of criminal assets in the fight against crime, and to recover money that has been made from crime or which is intended for use in crime.

Asset recovery refers to the process through which offenders are deprived of the proceeds of crime. Asset recovery provisions are employed in the legislation of jurisdictions worldwide, to varying degrees and for varying reasons.

From a crime-fighting perspective, asset recovery is generally regarded as a tool in the fight against profit-driven crime, including organised crime. More specifically, asset recovery is a multi-pronged, multi-stage process involving numerous entities, including law enforcement agencies, prosecution service, courts, and possibly receivers.