21st August 2018, London – Commenting on a speech today by the UK Foreign Secretary, in which he calls for comprehensive sanctions against Russia, Robert Barrington, Executive Director at Transparency International UK, said:

“Mr Hunt rightly points to the rule of law and adherence to international standards as fundamental to global peace and prosperity. That also means the UK needs to act against those oligarchs and others who break the rule of law and ignore international standards. They use the UK as their playground and London property as a safe haven for the proceeds of corruption.”

”If the UK government is serious about Russian sanctions, it is time to stop letting corrupt oligarchs and cronies of the world’s corrupt autocrats launder their money and reputations through the UK and its Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.”

“It is within the power of the UK government to stop this, and in fact there is now a legal obligation on the Foreign Secretary to assist the Overseas Territories to increase transparency in these jurisdictions. He should immediately set out his plans for doing so.”

Research by Transparency International UK has found £4.4 billion worth of property across the UK bought with suspicious wealth, of which at least a fifth is connected to individuals from Russia.

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