How London became the dirty money capital of the world | FT Film

Summary

The script exposes London as a hub for 'dirty money,' highlighting the UK's lax financial regulations that welcome corrupt wealth, particularly from Russia. It details the process of money laundering through shell companies, property purchases, and the complicity of British professionals. The speaker calls for stronger enforcement and the recent Economic Crime Bill as a step towards combating kleptocracy and its corrosive effects on democracy and press freedom.

Takeaways

• 🏛️ London has been a hub for 'dirty money', particularly from corrupt and criminal individuals worldwide, for decades.
• 🇬🇧 The UK has been criticized for not having clear and well-enforced rules to prevent financial corruption and money laundering.
• 🏘️ Russian oligarchs have invested heavily in London real estate, with around a billion pounds in residential property.
• 🔪 The recent aggression by Putin has caused a wake-up call in the UK, recognizing 'dirty money' as a threat to democracy.
• 🇷🇺 The fall of the Soviet Empire led to a massive transfer of wealth into the hands of a few, who then sought to launder their money in places like London.
• 🇬🇧💷 The UK's offshore territories, like the British Virgin Islands and Channel Islands, became centers for financial secrecy and shell companies.
• 💼 The 'Golden Visa' scheme allowed wealthy individuals to essentially buy citizenship in the UK, which was later abolished due to abuse.
• 🏦 UK banks have been implicated in facilitating the movement of corrupt wealth, with 86 banks involved in such activities.
• 🏫 The integration of Russian wealth into British society is extensive, affecting education, media, and politics.
• 📜 The UK government has recently passed the Economic Crime Bill to address some of the issues related to money laundering and kleptocracy.
• 🛡️ There is a call for further action to strengthen the UK's ability to combat economic crime and enforce transparency in financial dealings.

Q & A

What is the main argument presented in the video script regarding London's role in global finance?

The script argues that London has been a hub for 'dirty money', welcoming corrupt and criminal individuals from around the world, particularly from Russia, to launder their wealth due to its open financial system and lack of stringent regulations.

How does the script describe the UK's approach to financial regulation before the financial crisis?

The script suggests that the UK's approach to financial regulation was inadequate, characterized by failures that allowed for corruption and the abuse of systems like the golden visa scheme, which allowed wealthy individuals to buy citizenship.

What is the 'golden visa' scheme mentioned in the script, and how was it exploited?

The 'golden visa' scheme was introduced by the Labour government to attract wealth and capital into London. It allowed individuals with substantial funds to essentially buy citizenship. However, it was exploited by oligarchs and kleptocrats to legitimize their 'dirty money' and establish credibility in the UK.

How does the script characterize the role of UK law enforcement agencies in dealing with economic crimes?

The script characterizes UK law enforcement agencies as being outgunned by the legal resources available to kleptocrats and corrupt individuals, suggesting that they have struggled to effectively enforce the law and combat economic crimes.

What are the 'four key stages' of money laundering mentioned in the script, and how do they relate to the UK?

The four key stages are placement, layering, integration, and defense. Placement involves moving money into a UK shell company; layering is about moving money through complex financial transactions; integration involves buying assets like UK property; and defense is about protecting wealth and reputation using the UK's legal system.

How does the script discuss the impact of 'dirty money' on the UK's democratic institutions and society?

The script suggests that 'dirty money' is poisoning democratic institutions and undermining the free press, which are essential components of a democratic society. It implies that this money is corrupting the political system and influencing politicians to serve the interests of a small international oligarchy.

What is the 'Economic Crime Bill' mentioned in the script, and what does it aim to achieve?

The 'Economic Crime Bill' is landmark legislation that aims to tackle economic crimes, including money laundering. It introduces a public register of beneficial ownership of properties acquired through foreign entities, makes sanctions easier to impose, and facilitates the pursuit of unexplained wealth orders.

How does the script describe the role of the British Empire's outposts in facilitating financial secrecy and shell companies?

The script describes how outposts like the British Virgin Islands and the Channel Islands, which retained their purpose after the unraveling of the British Empire, became providers of financial secrecy and shell companies, aiding in the global movement of 'dirty money' without leaving a trace.

What is the significance of the script's mention of the 'big bang' under Margaret Thatcher?

The 'big bang' refers to the significant liberalization of the UK's financial sector under Margaret Thatcher's government. The script suggests that this event marked the beginning of a more open and less regulated financial environment that inadvertently facilitated the influx of 'dirty money' into London.

How does the script address the issue of transparency in the UK's company registration process?

The script criticizes the UK's company registration process for being too easy and lacking in verification, allowing for the easy creation of shell companies to hide true ownership and the flow of 'dirty money' through the economy.

What are the implications of the script's discussion on the UK's libel laws and their use by kleptocrats?

The script implies that the UK's claimant-friendly libel laws can be exploited by kleptocrats to silence investigative journalists and the press, effectively shutting down conversations about their illicit activities and protecting their reputations.

Outlines

00:00

🏛️ London's Role as a Haven for Dirty Money

The script discusses London's reputation as the capital for illicit financial activities, particularly from Russia. It criticizes the UK's lax financial regulations and its history of welcoming corrupt individuals to launder their wealth. The narrative highlights the significant role of Russian money in London's real estate market and the UK's failure to enforce clear rules against money laundering. It also touches on the historical context of the British Empire's outposts facilitating financial secrecy and the recent realization of the damage caused by 'dirty money' to democracy.

05:01

📋 The Mechanics of Money Laundering in the UK

This paragraph delves into the process of money laundering in the UK, starting with the placement of illicit funds into UK shell companies. It points out the ease of evading company registration rules and the lack of oversight by Companies House. The summary also covers the layering of funds through complex financial transactions involving UK banks and the integration of these funds into the UK economy through property purchases, often with the help of lawyers and real estate agents. The paragraph concludes with the defense of wealth and reputation through the UK's libel laws and the reputation management industry.

10:04

🕋 The Interconnection of Kleptocracy and London's Elite

The script describes the deep integration of Russian kleptocracy with London's political and business elites. It discusses the influence of Russian wealth in UK institutions, including newspapers, public schools, and the House of Lords. The paragraph also addresses the issue of political donations and the use of the UK's legal system to lend legitimacy to questionable wealth. It raises concerns about the potential corruption of the UK's political system due to the influx of dirty money and the challenges faced by investigative journalists and the legal system in tackling this issue.

15:05

📜 Legislative Changes and the Fight Against Economic Crime

This paragraph outlines the UK government's legislative efforts to combat economic crime, including the introduction of the Economic Crime Bill. It discusses the establishment of a public register for the beneficial ownership of properties acquired by foreign entities and the measures to make sanctions and unexplained wealth orders easier to impose. The summary also mentions the potential for further legislative changes to address remaining loopholes and the broader implications of the UK's role in facilitating global corruption.

20:06

🏙️ The Future of London as a Financial Hub Amidst Kleptocracy

The final paragraph contemplates the future of London as a financial hub, considering the impact of recent legislative changes and the ongoing fight against kleptocracy. It discusses the potential for London to become less open to foreign entities and the possibility of new rules to limit the influence of bad actors. The script also reflects on the UK's unique position to lead the crackdown on kleptocrats and the broader societal implications of the UK's historical role in facilitating dirty money.

Keywords

💡Dirty Money

Dirty money refers to funds that are illegally obtained, often through corruption, criminal activities, or kleptocracy. In the video's context, it highlights how London has been a hub for such funds, particularly from Russian sources, emphasizing the city's role in facilitating the laundering and integration of illicit wealth into legitimate financial systems.

💡Capital of the World

The term 'capital of the world' is used metaphorically to denote a city that holds significant global influence or prominence in a particular domain. Here, it refers to London's role as a central place for illicit financial activities, suggesting that it has become the epicenter for global dirty money.

💡Corrupt and Criminal Individuals

This phrase describes people who engage in dishonest or illegal activities, often for personal gain. The video script discusses how London has been welcoming to such individuals, implying a lax regulatory environment that allows them to launder and legitimize their wealth.

💡Financial Hub

A financial hub is a city that serves as a center for financial activities, such as banking, investment, and trading. The script points out that Britain's open financial system has been exploited, lacking clear and well-enforced rules to prevent money laundering and other illicit financial activities.

💡Launder Wealth

Wealth laundering is the process of making illegally-gained proceeds (dirty money) appear legal (clean). The script explains that London's legal and financial systems have aspects that facilitate this process, allowing for the integration of dirty money into the economy.

💡Offshore Industry

The offshore industry typically refers to financial or business activities conducted outside the home country, often in jurisdictions with more lenient regulations. The video script describes the multi-trillion-dollar offshore industry as being rife with dirty money, highlighting its role in global corruption.

💡Golden Visas

Golden visas are a form of investment migration program where wealthy individuals can obtain residency or citizenship in a country by investing a substantial amount of money. The script criticizes the UK's golden visa scheme for being abused by oligarchs and kleptocrats to legitimize their illicit funds.

💡Shell Companies

A shell company is a business entity that has no significant assets or operations but is used for various purposes, such as hiding the true owner's identity or facilitating financial transactions. The video script describes how shell companies are used to obscure the origins of dirty money and to integrate it into the UK economy.

💡Beneficial Owners

Beneficial owners are the individuals who ultimately own or control a company, as opposed to the nominal owners who are publicly listed. The script points out that it's easy to evade rules regarding the disclosure of beneficial owners in the UK, contributing to the problem of money laundering.

💡Economic Crime Bill

The Economic Crime Bill mentioned in the script is legislation aimed at combating economic crimes, such as money laundering and corruption. It includes measures to increase transparency, such as requiring overseas companies purchasing UK property to disclose their beneficial owners.

💡Unexplained Wealth Orders

Unexplained wealth orders (UWOs) are a legal tool used to combat money laundering by compelling individuals to explain the origin of their wealth if it appears disproportionate to their known income. The script notes the limited success of UWOs due to the high costs and risks associated with their use.

Highlights

London is considered the 'dirty money capital of the world' due to its welcoming stance towards corrupt and criminal individuals.

The UK's open financial hub lacks clear and well-enforced rules, which makes it an ideal place for money laundering.

Russians have invested around a billion pounds in London's residential property, indicating the scale of foreign money in the city.

The realization that 'dirty money' is harmful to democracy has come after a series of aggressive acts by Putin.

The British Empire's remnants, like the British Virgin Islands and Channel Islands, serve as providers of financial secrecy.

The offshore industry, fueled by dirty money, has become a multi-trillion-dollar global engine of corruption.

The collapse of the Soviet Empire led to the creation of an oligarchy that sought to move its wealth globally, often through London.

The 'Big Bang' under Margaret Thatcher initiated financial liberalization, inadvertently facilitating the influx of dirty money.

Successive UK governments have failed to effectively tackle the issue of dirty money, including during David Cameron's tenure.

The UK has a history of welcoming Russian money across various sectors, including law firms and real estate.

The 'golden visa' scheme allowed wealthy individuals to buy UK citizenship, which was often abused by kleptocrats.

The ease of registering a UK shell company facilitates the placement stage of money laundering.

UK banks have been complicit in moving corrupt wealth around the world through complex financial transactions.

The integration of dirty money into the UK system often involves purchasing high-value assets like London real estate.

Anonymous property ownership in the UK, often through offshore shell companies, obscures the true beneficiaries.

The UK's libel laws and top law firms provide kleptocrats with a means to defend their wealth and reputation.

The recent Economic Crime Bill is a significant legislative step towards transparency in property ownership.

The UK's response to kleptocracy has been slow and inadequate, only now beginning to seriously address the issue.

The crisis in Ukraine has acted as a catalyst for change, prompting a reevaluation of the UK's relationship with dirty money.

The UK's position as a financial hub gives it a unique opportunity to lead the fight against global money laundering.

The narrative of 'Londongrad' extends beyond Russia, highlighting the UK's broader role in facilitating kleptocratic wealth.

The impact of dirty money on UK society raises questions about the integrity of democratic institutions and the free press.

Transcripts

There's no question that London is the dirty money

capital of the world.

The UK didn't just turn a blind eye to Russian money.

We welcomed it.

For many decades now London has been rolling out the red carpet

to corrupt and criminal individuals

from around the world.

Britain is a very open financial hub.

It's really important that you have really clear well enforced

rules.

And that's something Britain simply doesn't have.

There are key aspects of our legal and financial system that

makes the city of London a great place to bring dirty money

and launder wealth.

The Russians have accounted for about a billion pounds

worth of residential property in London.

We have now woken up.

Dirty money is being seen for what it is,

which is a poison to democracy.

It's taken the real slipping of Putin's mask,

an act of aggression so appalling.

The UK appears to have completely lost

its moral compass.

This is really a tale of two empires, British Empire

and the Soviet Empire.

And the British Empire as it unravelled

retained lots of outposts, British Virgin Islands, Channel

Islands.

They needed a new purpose.

And the purpose they found was as providers

of financial secrecy, and shell companies,

corporate camouflage, ways for people to move through

the globalising economy without leaving

their fingerprints on anything.

The engine of the multi-trillion dollar offshore industry

rife with dirty money.

This is how corruption went global.

While the British Empire was doing that,

the Soviet Empire was collapsing too.

The greatest act of corruption the world has probably

ever seen, the scramble in a few years in the '90s

to grab the wealth of the entire Soviet Empire,

create this oligarchy that went then surging out

into the world.

And where this all meets is London, the place where

dirty money comes to party.

The origins came with the big bang under Margaret Thatcher

when she started liberalising the financial services sector.

You book me a client, I will sell you half a million

at six, seven, three.

And then that carried on under the labour government with

a commission on deregulation.

David Cameron I think got it.

Thank you very much.

After he left office, people simply

refused to take on the challenge to eradicate

dirty money from London.

Over the past two decades, the UK

has really welcomed in Russian money

of all kinds, law firms, real estate agents, the government.

There are statements on the record

from Boris Johnson, our prime minister,

from when he was the mayor of London, saying

that he wanted to make London a hub for Russian money.

The Stock Exchange welcomed lots of Russian companies,

wanted them to make the UK and London their European base.

One of the reasons why Britain has got into this hole

is that Britain's ruling elites believe

that you should get out of the way of businesses at all costs.

So if you're a senior civil servant what

you need to demonstrate to ministers

is that you won't cause trouble for business.

We see it all the time in things like failures

of financial regulation before the financial crisis,

the failures of building regulation

that have been exposed by the Grenfell Tower

fire, the golden visa schemes which are introduced in 2008.

The golden visas were introduced by the Labour government

to attract wealth and capital into London.

If you had enough money, you could buy citizenship.

In theory, there were checks on this.

But in practise, they didn't work.

But of course it was abused by oligarchs and kleptocrats who

wanted to bring their dirty money into London

and use the scheme to establish legitimacy

and credibility in what was seen as a trusted jurisdiction.

It's quite a remarkable idea that citizenship

is for sale at all.

It is a scandal that I've been pursuing for many years.

And I'm delighted the government has finally

abolished the scheme.

Peaked in about 2012 when I think around 1,200 golden visas

were issued that year.

Sixty per cent were actually for either Russians or Chinese.

If you've seized power in Kazakhstan, Moscow,

or Venezuela, wherever it may be,

you are enriching yourself off of the fat of the land.

You stick it in London.

And what comes with it in London.

But this full suite of services for putting a legitimate face

on yourself.

Let's say you wanted to bring dirty money into the City

of London and integrate it into the system,

there are basically four key stages, placement, layering,

integration, and defence.

So let's start with bringing your money from

say a Latvian bank account, a Cayman bank account,

you want to then move that into a UK shell company.

It's possible to spend gigantic amounts of money

in the UK economy with a mascot.

You're supposed to tell the Companies House registry who

the real owners, the beneficial owners, of the companies are.

But in practise, it's really easy to evade those rules.

And fundamentally, no one goes after companies that just lie.

It's essentially a Wild West of information,

which is unverified, and in some cases ludicrous.

You can put forward any name, hide your identity.

There are Adolf Hitler's, and Donald Ducks,

and Mickey Mouses.

It is so easy to register a company on Companies House,

costs £12, you can do it in minutes.

And crucially, no one checks the information.

Usually, the applications are approved within 24 hours.

They don't actually have the statutory power

to check the information, to investigate false information,

or remove it from the register.

Now there are some addresses within the UK

that have thousands of companies registered to them.

And if you go and knock on the door you won't find staff.

They have literally been set up as a shell

to hide the true ownership of who really controls

and benefits from the money flowing through that company.

This is a crucial area that the government

says it wants to tighten up.

But this is one of those reforms that's

been talked about for years and nothing has been done.

The next stage you want to layer to move this money around

in a series of complicated financial transactions that

will distance you from the money and from your source of wealth.

That's where the UK banks come in.

Some 86 banks have been involved in obtaining, moving

corrupt wealth around the world.

The cash by the time it has got to London

has probably already gone through a couple

of British overseas territories like the British Virgin

Islands.

Step three is you want to integrate

your wealth into the UK system.

You want to buy assets, including UK property.

Lawyers, real estate agents are on hand to help you do that.

Once you've got the cash into London

you can then basically use it like it's clean.

People aren't bringing this money onshore

to put it into drug gangs.

They're putting it on the shore to buy houses in Kensington.

The buying really started with Mr Abramovich.

I was showing him various properties,

which he eventually bought one in Kensington in excess

of £90mn.

Their fortunes were enormous.

They were a target for estate agents in London.

Have you got a Russian type conversation

was going around the agents.

Typical Russian buyer would be looking for a substantial home,

larger than most.

Grade one, grade two listed.

Location would be Belgravia, Mayfair, Knightsbridge.

There wasn't that much stock.

But when anything did come available,

your thoughts were immediately find one of these oligarchs who

wanted to buy one.

You can own UK property through a shell company, even

an offshore shell company.

And if you do own it through an offshore shell company,

you don't have to say who really owns that property.

And lawyers are on hand to advise

on these complicated transactions, which

creates an opaque ownership structure of some

of our most valuable UK homes.

Roughly 84,000 homes here in the UK are owned anonymously.

We have identified £6.7bn of UK property that has been bought

with suspicious wealth.

£1.5bn of that, that's around 150 land titles,

have been purchased by Russian individuals who are either

accused of corruption or have close links to the Kremlin.

We found £830mn worth of UK property owned by Russian

individuals through shell companies based in our crown

dependencies and overseas territories.

And there's been about 10 to 20 important houses

sold to oligarchs.

They normally had a third party.

It could have been a lawyer, it could

have been an intermediary.

You didn't really have much dialogue with the principal.

And a fleet of cars would arrive in all blacked out windows.

We subsequently realised there were some very unpleasant

situations occurring with people being murdered and falling out

of windows.

And the recent events in Ukraine have demonstrated

that our once earlier thoughts, suspicions are as bad as they

could ever possibly be.

If those buyers that invested money here was to launder it,

then you wish you hadn't had anything to do with it.

Finally, you want to defend your wealth and your reputation.

And the City of London is the perfect place

to come if you want to do that.

Our libel laws, which are very claimant friendly,

make the high court a perfect place

to bring your blockbuster libel claims.

And the City of London is home to some of the top law

firms in the world who can help you bring them.

When questions are asked about oligarchs

by investigative journalists, including

those at the Financial Times, the lawyers

try to shut them up.

I've had a bit of experience of doing battle in the High Court

with powerful figures from the former Soviet Union.

There's an entire industry based in London, the big heavy duty

reputation management law firms.

They harangue the press and broadcasters.

Newspapers are vastly outgunned.

There's often vexatious cases that are brought solely

to just run up bills, to delay things, to cause problems,

to make editors think, oh God.

Do we need to do this?

So even when we try to expose the wrongdoing,

the kleptocrats use their resources

to close down the conversation.

And the lawyers make a lot of money

but support the oligarchs.

We were involved with one case.

We were owed money and we wanted to settle it.

But they said, no.

We're not going to pay you.

So we had to go to a court.

A very large individual came to our door one day

and made it clear to us we should drop the case.

The man had quite a number of gold teeth

and he was built like a gorilla.

It was threatening.

One of the attractions of being in London

is the network of lawyers, accountants, oligarchs,

kleptocrats, do deals.

English law provides a stamp of legitimacy.

We've identified 81 law firms, 86 UK banks, and surprisingly

177 UK education institutions that

have accepted or moved dirty money from around the world.

Russians own our newspapers, their children

are in the elite public schools.

Their properties are in Mayfair.

We have sold one or two properties

where people are now on the sanction list.

It does make you think, am I doing the right thing?

Look at the House of Lords and the number of fortunes

made in the Soviet Union either by nationals

from the former Soviet Union or peers who rent out

their legitimacy to highly questionable oligarchs

to sit on the boards of their companies.

Look at the political donors who buy access

to our most senior elected officials

from the prime minister down.

I'm often asked to address political representatives

from the Commonwealth on how to ensure proper accountability.

I now do it with shame.

And I feel phony not just because of the way

we've allowed dirty money to come into the country,

but because of the way that dirty money has

infected the public domain and then infected our politics.

Go back to the way we responded to the Covid pandemic.

We talked about a chumocracy, matey contracts.

Look at, say, Lord Lebedev.

Does it matter that he's the son of a former KGB officer?

Does it matter that his fortune was earned in a place run

on kleptocratic rules?

Does it matter that Tory donors have roots

in the Russian kleptocracy?

People will of course insist that they are just

legitimate business people.

But the source of their wealth is an ultra-corrupt system.

They are connected at every level.

We have City grandees, lords, former ministers

sitting on their boards.

The integration of Russian business

with London's political and business elite is complete.

You can buy a bit of a university

and name a wing of an art gallery after you.

And suddenly, you're either an entrepreneur or a statesman

as opposed to being a thief or a despot.

Britain as a very open financial hub

would always be vulnerable to dirty money coming

into the country.

And it's really important in that situation

that you have really clear, well enforced rules.

And that's something Britain simply doesn't have.

There have been huge questions asked for years about the UK's

record on enforcement.

Often, UK law enforcement agencies

are simply outgunned by the big lawyers

that worked for corrupt and criminal individuals.

The Serious Fraud Office for example,

has a budget of £50mn a year.

Any self-respecting oligarch makes that amount

of money in less than a week.

I really hope that the UK government will

make sure the National Crime Agency, the Serious Fraud

Office, and others have teeth that can bite.

We had to have a war to bring this all to a head.

And it's a shame that so many people have

died as a consequence of it.

The crisis in Ukraine has marked a real turning point.

We are waking up now because a kleptocrat has sent troops

into a neighbouring democracy to the fact that this dirty money

is a weapon.

The kleptocrats are at war with democracy.

There are a series of legislative changes

that have been talked about for a really long time.

And the government has delayed and failed

to implement those things over a really long period.

And that's how we've got to where we are now.

David Cameron promised me in 2015,

2016 that he would bring in a bill,

enable us to have a public register

of the beneficial ownership of properties

that had been acquired through foreign entities.

The Economic Crime Bill that the government has recently passed

is landmark legislation that brings forward

the long promised and delayed property register.

Overseas companies that purchase a UK property

have to tell the Land Registry who really owns and controls

those companies.

One hopes that that is the beginning

of the end of people hiding behind offshore vehicles.

Everybody will have to account for being

the beneficial owner of anything,

whether it's an aeroplane, a yacht, or a home.

The Economic Crime Bill makes sanctions easier to impose,

unexplained wealth orders easier to pursue.

Unexplained wealth orders were a new investigative tool

given to law enforcement agencies in 2018.

It's a type of court order that compels someone with assets

of over £50,000 to explain how they could afford them if it

doesn't seem to make sense.

There have only been four cases where

they've been successfully used.

And the amount seized is tiny.

Part of the problem is the costs of being

unsuccessful in bringing them.

The new Economic Crime Bill basically

caps the amount of liability that police forces

can have if they're ordered to pay costs.

We are going to get an Economic Crime Bill

2.0 in a few months' time.

I really hope that the next Economic Crime Bill really

gets a handle on some of the loopholes that still remain.

Kleptocracy spreads like a virus.

And it starts to change how people treat power.

With all this dirty money that's arrived in the UK,

with all these fortunes made in kleptocracies,

you've got to start to wonder, is our political system

becoming more corrupt as a result?

To bring an end to Londongrad, London

could become much less open.

We can take serious steps to limit

the capacity of some types of people to come here.

The political consensus is around

if you like the second option, which

is keeping London that is this very open rules-based place,

but by trying to introduce new rules into the system

to make it harder for people who are really bad actors

to disguise their money.

The government's approach to sanction

has been far too little far too late.

It's a knee-jerk response to a horrendous act

of kleptocratic aggression by one

of history's great kleptocrats.

We have shown an amazing tolerance up to this point

to people we consider to be so plugged into Putin's regime

that if we confiscate some of their wealth,

that will make this man change course.

I first raised the issue of Abramovich over a year ago

when the leader of the opposition in Russian, Navalny,

was imprisoned by Vladimir Putin.

Navalny said there that if the West really

wanted to support democracy, we ought

to take action by sanctioning Putin's cronies around him.

At the time, the government took no action.

It's important to remember that this is a much bigger problem.

It may be called Londongrad, but actually this

is not just about Russia.

Our response seems to be we want to try

to pressure one kleptocrat.

We need to dismantle our complicity in kleptocracy

wherever it comes from.

Clamp down massively on secrecy in the economy and provision

of secrecy by large parts of the former British Empire.

The UK is in a uniquely strong position

to crack down on kleptocrats because of our position

as the so-called capital of money laundering.

Fawning service to this dirty money over all these years

has now ironically put us in the position

to land the biggest blow.

There aren't going to be clear costs

to the measures that the UK has taken,

exodus of businesses from Russia.

We have also seen from the professional services and law

firms that are based in the UK announcements

that they are going to refuse to do any more

work for Russian clients.

There will be a financial cost to that.

Dirty money has benefited certain sectors in the UK.

There are professionals who have benefited in monetary terms

from the dirty money flowing to the UK

from the services we offer.

But there are many people in the UK

who have not have been economically enriched.

What sort of society do we want?

I will believe it's the end of Londongrad when I see it.

There is a huge gulf between talking

tough on things like sanctions, dirty money,

and economic crime, and doing something about it.

The UK is guilty of laundering the world's dirty money.

We help facilitate global corruption.

We in the West decided that we would

march into Russia, bankers, consultants, entrepreneurs,

lawyers, and remake this collapsing communist empire

in our own image.

But we weren't remaking the former Soviet Union

in our image.

The new kleptocratic order was remaking us in their image.

This dirty money is poisoning our democratic institutions,

suborning politicians to serve the interests

of this international tiny oligarchy.

It's undermining the free press.

These are the only things that separate us

from these authoritarian regimes.

These institutions and this dirty money is corroding them.