Sunday, May 01, 2022
Dirty money in the UK
The UK has for a long time enabled the Russian oligarchs, who were the power behind Putin, to build up their wealth and influence. We are in no position to criticise the flow of dirty money that has done so much to support international criminality. But all that has changed, or has it?
The government’s Economic Crime Bill was rushed through parliament last month in a bid to “flush out” illicitly-obtained wealth. It created a new register requiring overseas companies to reveal the name of the “beneficial owner” of properties held in the UK. But it is not enough, and according to Bill Browder, a leading sanctions expert, Britain remains the “world leader” in hiding dirty money.
The Independent reports that Mr Browder has urged Boris Johnson’s government to get to grips with the “enabler community” of lawyers and accountants in London suspected of helping kleptocrats from Russia and elsewhere protect their assets:
The Vladimir Putin critic – who campaigned for the “Magnitsky” human rights sanctions introduced by many western governments – said the UK government must now force so-called enablers to share more information with the authorities.
“The UK is still the world leader of attracting dirty money,” said Mr Browder. “The UK has a chance to close up a major, glaring loophole which attracts everyone to London to launder money.”
He added: “The enabler community in London is more prolific than anywhere else in the world. The oligarchs work with the best lawyers and accountants – those enablers should be obliged under a duty of law to provide information on those being investigated.”
Browder and other anti-corruption campaigners contend that the Economic Crime legislation contains several “loopholes”, which still allow kleptocrats to hide their assets in complex structures such as shell companies and trusts.
The government’s Economic Crime Bill was rushed through parliament last month in a bid to “flush out” illicitly-obtained wealth. It created a new register requiring overseas companies to reveal the name of the “beneficial owner” of properties held in the UK. But it is not enough, and according to Bill Browder, a leading sanctions expert, Britain remains the “world leader” in hiding dirty money.
The Independent reports that Mr Browder has urged Boris Johnson’s government to get to grips with the “enabler community” of lawyers and accountants in London suspected of helping kleptocrats from Russia and elsewhere protect their assets:
The Vladimir Putin critic – who campaigned for the “Magnitsky” human rights sanctions introduced by many western governments – said the UK government must now force so-called enablers to share more information with the authorities.
“The UK is still the world leader of attracting dirty money,” said Mr Browder. “The UK has a chance to close up a major, glaring loophole which attracts everyone to London to launder money.”
He added: “The enabler community in London is more prolific than anywhere else in the world. The oligarchs work with the best lawyers and accountants – those enablers should be obliged under a duty of law to provide information on those being investigated.”
Browder and other anti-corruption campaigners contend that the Economic Crime legislation contains several “loopholes”, which still allow kleptocrats to hide their assets in complex structures such as shell companies and trusts.
He wants the government to legislate to put clear obligations on the “enablers” to share information about suspected illicit wealth, as well as bring in tough criminal penalties for the failure to do so.
Oligarchs are still able to use shell companies – often set up in the UK’s Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories (CDOTs) – to dodge the authorities. That must be stopped.
It is time the UK cleaned up its act and ceased to be the world's dirty money centre.
Oligarchs are still able to use shell companies – often set up in the UK’s Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories (CDOTs) – to dodge the authorities. That must be stopped.
It is time the UK cleaned up its act and ceased to be the world's dirty money centre.
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I guess the latest chapter in this is the 'bigboy' criminal? running the British Virgin Isles.At least the US acts.
Details of Bill Browder's latest book are here. On BBC News's Context programme last night he congratulated the UK government for sanctioning the high-profile Putin supporters and Russian bank, but stressed the need to tackle the Putin proxies in the UK. US law is more robust in this area, and US judges are not afraid to throw out of court SLAPP actions, whose only aim is to intimidate critics and investigative journalists.
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