Widespread condemnation of Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine was quickly followed by unprecedented economic sanctions.

As foreign investors and businesses rushed to sell off assets, close offices and cut ties with clients in Russia, an uneasy realisation dawned. Something known in the anti-corruption community for decades: the wealth and business interests of hundreds of oligarchs closely aligned to the Putin regime is fully embedded in the world’s financial centres.

Wealthy Russians have, over the past 20 years or more, listed their companies on stock exchanges, bought lavish properties, invested in trophy-winning football clubs and so on.

It wasn’t a secret. Oligarchs had been laundering their illicit wealth in plain sight. Worse still, governments time and again had stood idly by and let it happen. ‘Sanction the oligarchs!’ was the rallying cry of Bill Browder, CEO of Hermitage Capital Management and vocal critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, for more than a decade.

Published on 22.03.22. Read on here

The Ukraine crisis has attracted a sharp focus on the extent to which ‘dirty’ Russian money pervades the world’s financial centres. Now, after many years of delaying, countries are rushing to boost transparency mechanisms that will help crack down on this illicit wealth.

The UK rapidly re-introduced its shelved Economic Crime Bill in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The legislation, which received royal assent on 14 March, will establish a new register listing the ultimate owners of property or land in the UK that have been purchased by overseas entities.

Given how much UK property is linked to Russian corruption – Transparency International estimates around £1.5bn has been spent in the UK by Russians with alleged connections to the Kremlin since 2016 – the register has been welcomed as a step-change in the UK’s approach to tackling illicit financial flows (IFFs) from Russia and elsewhere.

Published on 21.03.22. Read on here