Labour to launch taskforce into ‘dirty money’ in the City : CityAM

Labour will set up a taskforce into “dirty money and ill-gotten gains” that have been laundered in the City of London, Lisa Nandy has announced.

The shadow foreign secretary told the Labour party conference this morning that the Taskforce on Illicit Finance will aim to make the UK “the most inhospitable place in the world” for dirty overseas money.

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The City of London has long had a reputation as a haven for money laundering for foreign governments and organised crime.

Last year, a report from parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee into Russia’s involvement in UK politics called for the government to crackdown on the so-called “London laundry”.

US businessman, and anti-corruption activist, Bill Browder has called the City of London “the money laundering centre of the world”.

“We will stand up to the oligarchs who subvert our democracy, avoid the taxes that fund our schools and hospitals and use the things that matter to us, the football clubs that stand at the centre of our communities, as playthings,” Nandy said.

“Today, we are launching a new Taskforce on Illicit Finance with the aim of making the UK the most inhospitable place in the world for dirty money and ill-gotten gains.

“Today, we recognise the fight against corruption as a key plank of defending our national interest.”

Nandy’s quip about dirty money in football clubs is likely a nod to Chelsea owner and Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.

Russian opposition politician, and key Putin critic, Alexei Navalny said the UK should apply financial sanctions onto Navalny for his ties to the Russian President.

The Intelligence and Security Committee report into Russia said the UK’s investor scheme had been abused by Russian oligarchs, providing “ideal mechanisms by which illicit finance could be recycled through”.

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“The money was also invested in extending patronage and building influence across a wide sphere of the British establishment – PR firms, charities, political interests, academia and cultural institutions were all willing beneficiaries of Russian money, contributing to a ‘reputation laundering’ process,” it said.

In 2016, parliament’s Home Affairs Committee report estimated that around £100bn of illicit money was being laundered through the London property market each year.