‘It’s about bloody time’: UK finally moves to block Russia’s ‘dirty money’
Britain has long been a haven for people of negotiable integrity to stash their cash, often via property deals made with the help of an army of lawyers, PR advisers and bankers.
Not only are super-mansions in London and the home counties a safe bet from an investment point of view, but the ability to disguise ownership via a labyrinthine network of shell companies offers a degree of anonymity to those who prefer their financial dealings to remain secret.
On top of that, the Companies House database – the repository for details of UK-registered businesses – has become almost a punchline to a pretty bad joke.
Information is often missing, incomplete or obviously fake. Directors have been registered in the name of Adolf Tooth Fairy Hitler and Judas Superadio Iskariot, without anyone batting an eyelid. Information can be hard to search for and the website crashes or times out on a regular basis.
On Monday, amid pressure to crack down on the billions of pounds in Russian “dirty money” flowing through London, the business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, brought forward measures designed to clean up the mess. They include a register of properties owned by overseas investors, in theory preventing them from disguising their identities.
“By legislating now, we’ll send a clear warning to those who have or are thinking about using the UK property market to launder ill-gotten gains,” Kwarteng said.
Companies House will also be “upgraded” to improve the quality of information available from its database and there will be measures to strengthen “unexplained wealth orders”, which give law enforcement bodies the power to seize assets where they suspect criminality may have occurred.
Long-time anti-corruption campaigners are relieved, if frustrated
Read more on theguardian.com
