WEBVTT 00:00:05.370 --> 00:00:08.340 align:middle line:84% There's no question that London is the dirty money 00:00:08.340 --> 00:00:11.235 align:middle line:90% capital of the world. 00:00:11.235 --> 00:00:14.400 align:middle line:84% The UK didn't just turn a blind eye to Russian money. 00:00:14.400 --> 00:00:17.430 align:middle line:90% We welcomed it. 00:00:17.430 --> 00:00:21.510 align:middle line:84% For many decades now London has been rolling out the red carpet 00:00:21.510 --> 00:00:23.370 align:middle line:84% to corrupt and criminal individuals 00:00:23.370 --> 00:00:24.605 align:middle line:90% from around the world. 00:00:24.605 --> 00:00:27.950 align:middle line:84% Britain is a very open financial hub. 00:00:27.950 --> 00:00:31.010 align:middle line:84% It's really important that you have really clear well enforced 00:00:31.010 --> 00:00:31.510 align:middle line:90% rules. 00:00:31.510 --> 00:00:34.465 align:middle line:84% And that's something Britain simply doesn't have. 00:00:34.465 --> 00:00:37.480 align:middle line:84% There are key aspects of our legal and financial system that 00:00:37.480 --> 00:00:40.390 align:middle line:84% makes the city of London a great place to bring dirty money 00:00:40.390 --> 00:00:41.710 align:middle line:90% and launder wealth. 00:00:41.710 --> 00:00:44.440 align:middle line:84% The Russians have accounted for about a billion pounds 00:00:44.440 --> 00:00:46.945 align:middle line:84% worth of residential property in London. 00:00:46.945 --> 00:00:48.472 align:middle line:90% We have now woken up. 00:00:48.472 --> 00:00:50.180 align:middle line:84% Dirty money is being seen for what it is, 00:00:50.180 --> 00:00:51.790 align:middle line:90% which is a poison to democracy. 00:00:51.790 --> 00:00:55.840 align:middle line:84% It's taken the real slipping of Putin's mask, 00:00:55.840 --> 00:00:59.830 align:middle line:84% an act of aggression so appalling. 00:00:59.830 --> 00:01:01.960 align:middle line:84% The UK appears to have completely lost 00:01:01.960 --> 00:01:02.875 align:middle line:90% its moral compass. 00:01:07.750 --> 00:01:11.380 align:middle line:84% This is really a tale of two empires, British Empire 00:01:11.380 --> 00:01:12.790 align:middle line:90% and the Soviet Empire. 00:01:12.790 --> 00:01:15.190 align:middle line:84% And the British Empire as it unravelled 00:01:15.190 --> 00:01:18.670 align:middle line:84% retained lots of outposts, British Virgin Islands, Channel 00:01:18.670 --> 00:01:19.330 align:middle line:90% Islands. 00:01:19.330 --> 00:01:20.900 align:middle line:90% They needed a new purpose. 00:01:20.900 --> 00:01:23.500 align:middle line:84% And the purpose they found was as providers 00:01:23.500 --> 00:01:26.170 align:middle line:84% of financial secrecy, and shell companies, 00:01:26.170 --> 00:01:29.740 align:middle line:84% corporate camouflage, ways for people to move through 00:01:29.740 --> 00:01:32.258 align:middle line:84% the globalising economy without leaving 00:01:32.258 --> 00:01:33.550 align:middle line:90% their fingerprints on anything. 00:01:33.550 --> 00:01:39.040 align:middle line:84% The engine of the multi-trillion dollar offshore industry 00:01:39.040 --> 00:01:41.980 align:middle line:90% rife with dirty money. 00:01:41.980 --> 00:01:44.963 align:middle line:84% This is how corruption went global. 00:01:44.963 --> 00:01:46.630 align:middle line:84% While the British Empire was doing that, 00:01:46.630 --> 00:01:48.580 align:middle line:84% the Soviet Empire was collapsing too. 00:01:48.580 --> 00:01:51.160 align:middle line:84% The greatest act of corruption the world has probably 00:01:51.160 --> 00:01:54.850 align:middle line:84% ever seen, the scramble in a few years in the '90s 00:01:54.850 --> 00:01:57.340 align:middle line:84% to grab the wealth of the entire Soviet Empire, 00:01:57.340 --> 00:02:02.680 align:middle line:84% create this oligarchy that went then surging out 00:02:02.680 --> 00:02:04.000 align:middle line:90% into the world. 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:07.270 align:middle line:84% And where this all meets is London, the place where 00:02:07.270 --> 00:02:10.509 align:middle line:90% dirty money comes to party. 00:02:10.509 --> 00:02:14.380 align:middle line:84% The origins came with the big bang under Margaret Thatcher 00:02:14.380 --> 00:02:18.670 align:middle line:84% when she started liberalising the financial services sector. 00:02:18.670 --> 00:02:21.340 align:middle line:84% You book me a client, I will sell you half a million 00:02:21.340 --> 00:02:23.075 align:middle line:90% at six, seven, three. 00:02:23.075 --> 00:02:25.450 align:middle line:84% And then that carried on under the labour government with 00:02:25.450 --> 00:02:27.340 align:middle line:90% a commission on deregulation. 00:02:27.340 --> 00:02:28.990 align:middle line:90% David Cameron I think got it. 00:02:28.990 --> 00:02:30.355 align:middle line:90% Thank you very much. 00:02:30.355 --> 00:02:33.610 align:middle line:84% After he left office, people simply 00:02:33.610 --> 00:02:36.820 align:middle line:84% refused to take on the challenge to eradicate 00:02:36.820 --> 00:02:38.380 align:middle line:90% dirty money from London. 00:02:38.380 --> 00:02:40.480 align:middle line:84% Over the past two decades, the UK 00:02:40.480 --> 00:02:43.030 align:middle line:84% has really welcomed in Russian money 00:02:43.030 --> 00:02:47.905 align:middle line:84% of all kinds, law firms, real estate agents, the government. 00:02:47.905 --> 00:02:50.440 align:middle line:84% There are statements on the record 00:02:50.440 --> 00:02:52.270 align:middle line:84% from Boris Johnson, our prime minister, 00:02:52.270 --> 00:02:54.310 align:middle line:84% from when he was the mayor of London, saying 00:02:54.310 --> 00:02:57.850 align:middle line:84% that he wanted to make London a hub for Russian money. 00:02:57.850 --> 00:03:01.270 align:middle line:84% The Stock Exchange welcomed lots of Russian companies, 00:03:01.270 --> 00:03:08.242 align:middle line:84% wanted them to make the UK and London their European base. 00:03:08.242 --> 00:03:10.450 align:middle line:84% One of the reasons why Britain has got into this hole 00:03:10.450 --> 00:03:13.750 align:middle line:84% is that Britain's ruling elites believe 00:03:13.750 --> 00:03:16.760 align:middle line:84% that you should get out of the way of businesses at all costs. 00:03:16.760 --> 00:03:18.760 align:middle line:84% So if you're a senior civil servant what 00:03:18.760 --> 00:03:20.260 align:middle line:84% you need to demonstrate to ministers 00:03:20.260 --> 00:03:22.450 align:middle line:84% is that you won't cause trouble for business. 00:03:22.450 --> 00:03:24.490 align:middle line:84% We see it all the time in things like failures 00:03:24.490 --> 00:03:26.950 align:middle line:84% of financial regulation before the financial crisis, 00:03:26.950 --> 00:03:28.640 align:middle line:84% the failures of building regulation 00:03:28.640 --> 00:03:31.420 align:middle line:84% that have been exposed by the Grenfell Tower 00:03:31.420 --> 00:03:34.370 align:middle line:84% fire, the golden visa schemes which are introduced in 2008. 00:03:39.865 --> 00:03:42.700 align:middle line:84% The golden visas were introduced by the Labour government 00:03:42.700 --> 00:03:46.245 align:middle line:84% to attract wealth and capital into London. 00:03:46.245 --> 00:03:48.370 align:middle line:84% If you had enough money, you could buy citizenship. 00:03:48.370 --> 00:03:49.912 align:middle line:84% In theory, there were checks on this. 00:03:49.912 --> 00:03:51.700 align:middle line:84% But in practise, they didn't work. 00:03:51.700 --> 00:03:55.510 align:middle line:84% But of course it was abused by oligarchs and kleptocrats who 00:03:55.510 --> 00:03:59.440 align:middle line:84% wanted to bring their dirty money into London 00:03:59.440 --> 00:04:03.460 align:middle line:84% and use the scheme to establish legitimacy 00:04:03.460 --> 00:04:06.970 align:middle line:84% and credibility in what was seen as a trusted jurisdiction. 00:04:06.970 --> 00:04:09.250 align:middle line:84% It's quite a remarkable idea that citizenship 00:04:09.250 --> 00:04:10.480 align:middle line:90% is for sale at all. 00:04:10.480 --> 00:04:14.170 align:middle line:84% It is a scandal that I've been pursuing for many years. 00:04:14.170 --> 00:04:16.269 align:middle line:84% And I'm delighted the government has finally 00:04:16.269 --> 00:04:17.350 align:middle line:90% abolished the scheme. 00:04:17.350 --> 00:04:21.730 align:middle line:84% Peaked in about 2012 when I think around 1,200 golden visas 00:04:21.730 --> 00:04:25.150 align:middle line:90% were issued that year. 00:04:25.150 --> 00:04:27.700 align:middle line:84% Sixty per cent were actually for either Russians or Chinese. 00:04:30.730 --> 00:04:33.270 align:middle line:84% If you've seized power in Kazakhstan, Moscow, 00:04:33.270 --> 00:04:35.170 align:middle line:84% or Venezuela, wherever it may be, 00:04:35.170 --> 00:04:38.170 align:middle line:84% you are enriching yourself off of the fat of the land. 00:04:38.170 --> 00:04:39.310 align:middle line:90% You stick it in London. 00:04:39.310 --> 00:04:41.380 align:middle line:84% And what comes with it in London. 00:04:41.380 --> 00:04:46.630 align:middle line:84% But this full suite of services for putting a legitimate face 00:04:46.630 --> 00:04:47.460 align:middle line:90% on yourself. 00:04:47.460 --> 00:04:50.620 align:middle line:84% Let's say you wanted to bring dirty money into the City 00:04:50.620 --> 00:04:52.970 align:middle line:84% of London and integrate it into the system, 00:04:52.970 --> 00:04:56.920 align:middle line:84% there are basically four key stages, placement, layering, 00:04:56.920 --> 00:04:58.840 align:middle line:90% integration, and defence. 00:04:58.840 --> 00:05:01.450 align:middle line:84% So let's start with bringing your money from 00:05:01.450 --> 00:05:04.540 align:middle line:84% say a Latvian bank account, a Cayman bank account, 00:05:04.540 --> 00:05:08.140 align:middle line:84% you want to then move that into a UK shell company. 00:05:08.140 --> 00:05:10.990 align:middle line:84% It's possible to spend gigantic amounts of money 00:05:10.990 --> 00:05:13.210 align:middle line:90% in the UK economy with a mascot. 00:05:13.210 --> 00:05:16.180 align:middle line:84% You're supposed to tell the Companies House registry who 00:05:16.180 --> 00:05:20.530 align:middle line:84% the real owners, the beneficial owners, of the companies are. 00:05:20.530 --> 00:05:23.890 align:middle line:84% But in practise, it's really easy to evade those rules. 00:05:23.890 --> 00:05:27.055 align:middle line:84% And fundamentally, no one goes after companies that just lie. 00:05:27.055 --> 00:05:29.350 align:middle line:84% It's essentially a Wild West of information, 00:05:29.350 --> 00:05:32.650 align:middle line:84% which is unverified, and in some cases ludicrous. 00:05:32.650 --> 00:05:35.988 align:middle line:84% You can put forward any name, hide your identity. 00:05:35.988 --> 00:05:37.780 align:middle line:84% There are Adolf Hitler's, and Donald Ducks, 00:05:37.780 --> 00:05:38.770 align:middle line:90% and Mickey Mouses. 00:05:38.770 --> 00:05:41.980 align:middle line:84% It is so easy to register a company on Companies House, 00:05:41.980 --> 00:05:44.500 align:middle line:84% costs £12, you can do it in minutes. 00:05:44.500 --> 00:05:47.087 align:middle line:84% And crucially, no one checks the information. 00:05:47.087 --> 00:05:50.170 align:middle line:84% Usually, the applications are approved within 24 hours. 00:05:50.170 --> 00:05:52.450 align:middle line:84% They don't actually have the statutory power 00:05:52.450 --> 00:05:56.110 align:middle line:84% to check the information, to investigate false information, 00:05:56.110 --> 00:05:57.600 align:middle line:90% or remove it from the register. 00:05:57.600 --> 00:05:59.740 align:middle line:84% Now there are some addresses within the UK 00:05:59.740 --> 00:06:03.290 align:middle line:84% that have thousands of companies registered to them. 00:06:03.290 --> 00:06:06.130 align:middle line:84% And if you go and knock on the door you won't find staff. 00:06:06.130 --> 00:06:08.710 align:middle line:84% They have literally been set up as a shell 00:06:08.710 --> 00:06:11.050 align:middle line:84% to hide the true ownership of who really controls 00:06:11.050 --> 00:06:13.800 align:middle line:84% and benefits from the money flowing through that company. 00:06:13.800 --> 00:06:15.550 align:middle line:84% This is a crucial area that the government 00:06:15.550 --> 00:06:17.225 align:middle line:90% says it wants to tighten up. 00:06:17.225 --> 00:06:18.850 align:middle line:84% But this is one of those reforms that's 00:06:18.850 --> 00:06:21.100 align:middle line:84% been talked about for years and nothing has been done. 00:06:23.560 --> 00:06:27.310 align:middle line:84% The next stage you want to layer to move this money around 00:06:27.310 --> 00:06:30.280 align:middle line:84% in a series of complicated financial transactions that 00:06:30.280 --> 00:06:34.290 align:middle line:84% will distance you from the money and from your source of wealth. 00:06:34.290 --> 00:06:36.670 align:middle line:84% That's where the UK banks come in. 00:06:36.670 --> 00:06:41.920 align:middle line:84% Some 86 banks have been involved in obtaining, moving 00:06:41.920 --> 00:06:44.112 align:middle line:90% corrupt wealth around the world. 00:06:44.112 --> 00:06:45.820 align:middle line:84% The cash by the time it has got to London 00:06:45.820 --> 00:06:48.088 align:middle line:84% has probably already gone through a couple 00:06:48.088 --> 00:06:50.380 align:middle line:84% of British overseas territories like the British Virgin 00:06:50.380 --> 00:06:51.940 align:middle line:90% Islands. 00:06:51.940 --> 00:06:54.160 align:middle line:84% Step three is you want to integrate 00:06:54.160 --> 00:06:56.170 align:middle line:90% your wealth into the UK system. 00:06:56.170 --> 00:06:59.680 align:middle line:84% You want to buy assets, including UK property. 00:06:59.680 --> 00:07:03.010 align:middle line:84% Lawyers, real estate agents are on hand to help you do that. 00:07:05.545 --> 00:07:07.180 align:middle line:84% Once you've got the cash into London 00:07:07.180 --> 00:07:09.820 align:middle line:84% you can then basically use it like it's clean. 00:07:09.820 --> 00:07:11.800 align:middle line:84% People aren't bringing this money onshore 00:07:11.800 --> 00:07:12.910 align:middle line:90% to put it into drug gangs. 00:07:12.910 --> 00:07:15.520 align:middle line:84% They're putting it on the shore to buy houses in Kensington. 00:07:19.000 --> 00:07:22.670 align:middle line:84% The buying really started with Mr Abramovich. 00:07:22.670 --> 00:07:24.410 align:middle line:84% I was showing him various properties, 00:07:24.410 --> 00:07:27.740 align:middle line:84% which he eventually bought one in Kensington in excess 00:07:27.740 --> 00:07:28.730 align:middle line:90% of £90mn. 00:07:28.730 --> 00:07:31.370 align:middle line:90% Their fortunes were enormous. 00:07:31.370 --> 00:07:34.640 align:middle line:84% They were a target for estate agents in London. 00:07:34.640 --> 00:07:37.280 align:middle line:84% Have you got a Russian type conversation 00:07:37.280 --> 00:07:39.890 align:middle line:90% was going around the agents. 00:07:39.890 --> 00:07:45.710 align:middle line:84% Typical Russian buyer would be looking for a substantial home, 00:07:45.710 --> 00:07:47.810 align:middle line:90% larger than most. 00:07:47.810 --> 00:07:50.720 align:middle line:90% Grade one, grade two listed. 00:07:50.720 --> 00:07:53.840 align:middle line:84% Location would be Belgravia, Mayfair, Knightsbridge. 00:07:53.840 --> 00:07:55.850 align:middle line:90% There wasn't that much stock. 00:07:55.850 --> 00:07:57.800 align:middle line:84% But when anything did come available, 00:07:57.800 --> 00:08:00.440 align:middle line:84% your thoughts were immediately find one of these oligarchs who 00:08:00.440 --> 00:08:01.790 align:middle line:90% wanted to buy one. 00:08:01.790 --> 00:08:04.670 align:middle line:84% You can own UK property through a shell company, even 00:08:04.670 --> 00:08:06.140 align:middle line:90% an offshore shell company. 00:08:06.140 --> 00:08:08.510 align:middle line:84% And if you do own it through an offshore shell company, 00:08:08.510 --> 00:08:11.480 align:middle line:84% you don't have to say who really owns that property. 00:08:11.480 --> 00:08:13.250 align:middle line:84% And lawyers are on hand to advise 00:08:13.250 --> 00:08:15.410 align:middle line:84% on these complicated transactions, which 00:08:15.410 --> 00:08:17.870 align:middle line:84% creates an opaque ownership structure of some 00:08:17.870 --> 00:08:19.940 align:middle line:90% of our most valuable UK homes. 00:08:19.940 --> 00:08:24.860 align:middle line:84% Roughly 84,000 homes here in the UK are owned anonymously. 00:08:24.860 --> 00:08:30.110 align:middle line:84% We have identified £6.7bn of UK property that has been bought 00:08:30.110 --> 00:08:31.760 align:middle line:90% with suspicious wealth. 00:08:31.760 --> 00:08:35.630 align:middle line:84% £1.5bn of that, that's around 150 land titles, 00:08:35.630 --> 00:08:38.780 align:middle line:84% have been purchased by Russian individuals who are either 00:08:38.780 --> 00:08:41.900 align:middle line:84% accused of corruption or have close links to the Kremlin. 00:08:41.900 --> 00:08:46.160 align:middle line:84% We found £830mn worth of UK property owned by Russian 00:08:46.160 --> 00:08:49.670 align:middle line:84% individuals through shell companies based in our crown 00:08:49.670 --> 00:08:51.320 align:middle line:84% dependencies and overseas territories. 00:08:51.320 --> 00:08:54.740 align:middle line:84% And there's been about 10 to 20 important houses 00:08:54.740 --> 00:08:56.690 align:middle line:90% sold to oligarchs. 00:08:56.690 --> 00:08:59.018 align:middle line:90% They normally had a third party. 00:08:59.018 --> 00:09:00.560 align:middle line:84% It could have been a lawyer, it could 00:09:00.560 --> 00:09:01.790 align:middle line:90% have been an intermediary. 00:09:01.790 --> 00:09:04.910 align:middle line:84% You didn't really have much dialogue with the principal. 00:09:04.910 --> 00:09:08.780 align:middle line:84% And a fleet of cars would arrive in all blacked out windows. 00:09:08.780 --> 00:09:12.650 align:middle line:84% We subsequently realised there were some very unpleasant 00:09:12.650 --> 00:09:16.700 align:middle line:84% situations occurring with people being murdered and falling out 00:09:16.700 --> 00:09:17.300 align:middle line:90% of windows. 00:09:17.300 --> 00:09:21.470 align:middle line:84% And the recent events in Ukraine have demonstrated 00:09:21.470 --> 00:09:27.020 align:middle line:84% that our once earlier thoughts, suspicions are as bad as they 00:09:27.020 --> 00:09:28.550 align:middle line:90% could ever possibly be. 00:09:28.550 --> 00:09:35.390 align:middle line:84% If those buyers that invested money here was to launder it, 00:09:35.390 --> 00:09:38.240 align:middle line:84% then you wish you hadn't had anything to do with it. 00:09:41.187 --> 00:09:44.480 align:middle line:84% Finally, you want to defend your wealth and your reputation. 00:09:44.480 --> 00:09:46.370 align:middle line:84% And the City of London is the perfect place 00:09:46.370 --> 00:09:48.440 align:middle line:90% to come if you want to do that. 00:09:48.440 --> 00:09:51.480 align:middle line:84% Our libel laws, which are very claimant friendly, 00:09:51.480 --> 00:09:53.030 align:middle line:84% make the high court a perfect place 00:09:53.030 --> 00:09:54.782 align:middle line:84% to bring your blockbuster libel claims. 00:09:54.782 --> 00:09:56.990 align:middle line:84% And the City of London is home to some of the top law 00:09:56.990 --> 00:09:59.285 align:middle line:84% firms in the world who can help you bring them. 00:09:59.285 --> 00:10:01.100 align:middle line:84% When questions are asked about oligarchs 00:10:01.100 --> 00:10:03.650 align:middle line:84% by investigative journalists, including 00:10:03.650 --> 00:10:06.740 align:middle line:84% those at the Financial Times, the lawyers 00:10:06.740 --> 00:10:08.600 align:middle line:90% try to shut them up. 00:10:08.600 --> 00:10:11.480 align:middle line:84% I've had a bit of experience of doing battle in the High Court 00:10:11.480 --> 00:10:14.000 align:middle line:84% with powerful figures from the former Soviet Union. 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:17.780 align:middle line:84% There's an entire industry based in London, the big heavy duty 00:10:17.780 --> 00:10:19.490 align:middle line:90% reputation management law firms. 00:10:19.490 --> 00:10:21.920 align:middle line:84% They harangue the press and broadcasters. 00:10:21.920 --> 00:10:24.785 align:middle line:90% Newspapers are vastly outgunned. 00:10:24.785 --> 00:10:27.920 align:middle line:84% There's often vexatious cases that are brought solely 00:10:27.920 --> 00:10:31.310 align:middle line:84% to just run up bills, to delay things, to cause problems, 00:10:31.310 --> 00:10:33.470 align:middle line:90% to make editors think, oh God. 00:10:33.470 --> 00:10:35.050 align:middle line:90% Do we need to do this? 00:10:35.050 --> 00:10:37.880 align:middle line:84% So even when we try to expose the wrongdoing, 00:10:37.880 --> 00:10:40.430 align:middle line:84% the kleptocrats use their resources 00:10:40.430 --> 00:10:42.830 align:middle line:90% to close down the conversation. 00:10:42.830 --> 00:10:45.740 align:middle line:84% And the lawyers make a lot of money 00:10:45.740 --> 00:10:47.810 align:middle line:90% but support the oligarchs. 00:10:47.810 --> 00:10:49.980 align:middle line:90% We were involved with one case. 00:10:49.980 --> 00:10:54.500 align:middle line:84% We were owed money and we wanted to settle it. 00:10:54.500 --> 00:10:55.340 align:middle line:90% But they said, no. 00:10:55.340 --> 00:10:56.465 align:middle line:90% We're not going to pay you. 00:10:56.465 --> 00:10:57.860 align:middle line:90% So we had to go to a court. 00:10:57.860 --> 00:11:03.230 align:middle line:84% A very large individual came to our door one day 00:11:03.230 --> 00:11:07.280 align:middle line:84% and made it clear to us we should drop the case. 00:11:07.280 --> 00:11:10.190 align:middle line:84% The man had quite a number of gold teeth 00:11:10.190 --> 00:11:12.200 align:middle line:90% and he was built like a gorilla. 00:11:12.200 --> 00:11:13.100 align:middle line:90% It was threatening. 00:11:16.615 --> 00:11:18.850 align:middle line:84% One of the attractions of being in London 00:11:18.850 --> 00:11:23.650 align:middle line:84% is the network of lawyers, accountants, oligarchs, 00:11:23.650 --> 00:11:26.440 align:middle line:90% kleptocrats, do deals. 00:11:26.440 --> 00:11:31.870 align:middle line:84% English law provides a stamp of legitimacy. 00:11:31.870 --> 00:11:37.600 align:middle line:84% We've identified 81 law firms, 86 UK banks, and surprisingly 00:11:37.600 --> 00:11:41.740 align:middle line:84% 177 UK education institutions that 00:11:41.740 --> 00:11:45.700 align:middle line:84% have accepted or moved dirty money from around the world. 00:11:45.700 --> 00:11:48.580 align:middle line:84% Russians own our newspapers, their children 00:11:48.580 --> 00:11:51.520 align:middle line:90% are in the elite public schools. 00:11:51.520 --> 00:11:55.915 align:middle line:90% Their properties are in Mayfair. 00:11:55.915 --> 00:11:57.520 align:middle line:84% We have sold one or two properties 00:11:57.520 --> 00:11:59.530 align:middle line:84% where people are now on the sanction list. 00:11:59.530 --> 00:12:03.970 align:middle line:84% It does make you think, am I doing the right thing? 00:12:03.970 --> 00:12:06.850 align:middle line:84% Look at the House of Lords and the number of fortunes 00:12:06.850 --> 00:12:09.520 align:middle line:84% made in the Soviet Union either by nationals 00:12:09.520 --> 00:12:12.640 align:middle line:84% from the former Soviet Union or peers who rent out 00:12:12.640 --> 00:12:17.290 align:middle line:84% their legitimacy to highly questionable oligarchs 00:12:17.290 --> 00:12:19.330 align:middle line:84% to sit on the boards of their companies. 00:12:19.330 --> 00:12:22.810 align:middle line:84% Look at the political donors who buy access 00:12:22.810 --> 00:12:25.570 align:middle line:84% to our most senior elected officials 00:12:25.570 --> 00:12:27.190 align:middle line:90% from the prime minister down. 00:12:27.190 --> 00:12:31.630 align:middle line:84% I'm often asked to address political representatives 00:12:31.630 --> 00:12:35.950 align:middle line:84% from the Commonwealth on how to ensure proper accountability. 00:12:35.950 --> 00:12:37.390 align:middle line:90% I now do it with shame. 00:12:37.390 --> 00:12:39.460 align:middle line:84% And I feel phony not just because of the way 00:12:39.460 --> 00:12:42.080 align:middle line:84% we've allowed dirty money to come into the country, 00:12:42.080 --> 00:12:44.920 align:middle line:84% but because of the way that dirty money has 00:12:44.920 --> 00:12:48.580 align:middle line:84% infected the public domain and then infected our politics. 00:12:48.580 --> 00:12:52.660 align:middle line:84% Go back to the way we responded to the Covid pandemic. 00:12:52.660 --> 00:12:55.690 align:middle line:84% We talked about a chumocracy, matey contracts. 00:12:55.690 --> 00:12:57.640 align:middle line:90% Look at, say, Lord Lebedev. 00:12:57.640 --> 00:13:01.330 align:middle line:84% Does it matter that he's the son of a former KGB officer? 00:13:01.330 --> 00:13:04.930 align:middle line:84% Does it matter that his fortune was earned in a place run 00:13:04.930 --> 00:13:06.340 align:middle line:90% on kleptocratic rules? 00:13:06.340 --> 00:13:10.270 align:middle line:84% Does it matter that Tory donors have roots 00:13:10.270 --> 00:13:12.542 align:middle line:90% in the Russian kleptocracy? 00:13:12.542 --> 00:13:14.500 align:middle line:84% People will of course insist that they are just 00:13:14.500 --> 00:13:15.940 align:middle line:90% legitimate business people. 00:13:15.940 --> 00:13:20.485 align:middle line:84% But the source of their wealth is an ultra-corrupt system. 00:13:20.485 --> 00:13:22.510 align:middle line:84% They are connected at every level. 00:13:22.510 --> 00:13:25.660 align:middle line:84% We have City grandees, lords, former ministers 00:13:25.660 --> 00:13:26.860 align:middle line:90% sitting on their boards. 00:13:26.860 --> 00:13:29.410 align:middle line:84% The integration of Russian business 00:13:29.410 --> 00:13:34.580 align:middle line:84% with London's political and business elite is complete. 00:13:34.580 --> 00:13:36.070 align:middle line:84% You can buy a bit of a university 00:13:36.070 --> 00:13:37.903 align:middle line:84% and name a wing of an art gallery after you. 00:13:37.903 --> 00:13:41.290 align:middle line:84% And suddenly, you're either an entrepreneur or a statesman 00:13:41.290 --> 00:13:43.105 align:middle line:84% as opposed to being a thief or a despot. 00:13:47.275 --> 00:13:49.030 align:middle line:84% Britain as a very open financial hub 00:13:49.030 --> 00:13:51.610 align:middle line:84% would always be vulnerable to dirty money coming 00:13:51.610 --> 00:13:52.790 align:middle line:90% into the country. 00:13:52.790 --> 00:13:54.850 align:middle line:84% And it's really important in that situation 00:13:54.850 --> 00:13:57.370 align:middle line:84% that you have really clear, well enforced rules. 00:13:57.370 --> 00:13:59.875 align:middle line:84% And that's something Britain simply doesn't have. 00:13:59.875 --> 00:14:04.420 align:middle line:84% There have been huge questions asked for years about the UK's 00:14:04.420 --> 00:14:06.450 align:middle line:90% record on enforcement. 00:14:06.450 --> 00:14:08.650 align:middle line:84% Often, UK law enforcement agencies 00:14:08.650 --> 00:14:11.020 align:middle line:84% are simply outgunned by the big lawyers 00:14:11.020 --> 00:14:13.538 align:middle line:84% that worked for corrupt and criminal individuals. 00:14:13.538 --> 00:14:15.080 align:middle line:84% The Serious Fraud Office for example, 00:14:15.080 --> 00:14:17.410 align:middle line:90% has a budget of £50mn a year. 00:14:17.410 --> 00:14:19.510 align:middle line:84% Any self-respecting oligarch makes that amount 00:14:19.510 --> 00:14:21.175 align:middle line:90% of money in less than a week. 00:14:21.175 --> 00:14:22.990 align:middle line:84% I really hope that the UK government will 00:14:22.990 --> 00:14:25.840 align:middle line:84% make sure the National Crime Agency, the Serious Fraud 00:14:25.840 --> 00:14:28.405 align:middle line:84% Office, and others have teeth that can bite. 00:14:31.970 --> 00:14:35.900 align:middle line:84% We had to have a war to bring this all to a head. 00:14:35.900 --> 00:14:38.240 align:middle line:84% And it's a shame that so many people have 00:14:38.240 --> 00:14:40.145 align:middle line:90% died as a consequence of it. 00:14:40.145 --> 00:14:45.565 align:middle line:84% The crisis in Ukraine has marked a real turning point. 00:14:45.565 --> 00:14:48.560 align:middle line:84% We are waking up now because a kleptocrat has sent troops 00:14:48.560 --> 00:14:51.560 align:middle line:84% into a neighbouring democracy to the fact that this dirty money 00:14:51.560 --> 00:14:52.220 align:middle line:90% is a weapon. 00:14:52.220 --> 00:14:55.040 align:middle line:84% The kleptocrats are at war with democracy. 00:14:55.040 --> 00:14:57.170 align:middle line:84% There are a series of legislative changes 00:14:57.170 --> 00:14:59.300 align:middle line:84% that have been talked about for a really long time. 00:14:59.300 --> 00:15:02.330 align:middle line:84% And the government has delayed and failed 00:15:02.330 --> 00:15:04.940 align:middle line:84% to implement those things over a really long period. 00:15:04.940 --> 00:15:07.977 align:middle line:84% And that's how we've got to where we are now. 00:15:07.977 --> 00:15:11.180 align:middle line:84% David Cameron promised me in 2015, 00:15:11.180 --> 00:15:15.260 align:middle line:84% 2016 that he would bring in a bill, 00:15:15.260 --> 00:15:17.750 align:middle line:84% enable us to have a public register 00:15:17.750 --> 00:15:20.720 align:middle line:84% of the beneficial ownership of properties 00:15:20.720 --> 00:15:23.390 align:middle line:84% that had been acquired through foreign entities. 00:15:23.390 --> 00:15:26.720 align:middle line:84% The Economic Crime Bill that the government has recently passed 00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:30.140 align:middle line:84% is landmark legislation that brings forward 00:15:30.140 --> 00:15:33.320 align:middle line:84% the long promised and delayed property register. 00:15:33.320 --> 00:15:36.830 align:middle line:84% Overseas companies that purchase a UK property 00:15:36.830 --> 00:15:40.520 align:middle line:84% have to tell the Land Registry who really owns and controls 00:15:40.520 --> 00:15:41.405 align:middle line:90% those companies. 00:15:41.405 --> 00:15:43.430 align:middle line:84% One hopes that that is the beginning 00:15:43.430 --> 00:15:48.020 align:middle line:84% of the end of people hiding behind offshore vehicles. 00:15:48.020 --> 00:15:50.900 align:middle line:84% Everybody will have to account for being 00:15:50.900 --> 00:15:53.150 align:middle line:84% the beneficial owner of anything, 00:15:53.150 --> 00:15:56.690 align:middle line:84% whether it's an aeroplane, a yacht, or a home. 00:15:56.690 --> 00:16:01.280 align:middle line:84% The Economic Crime Bill makes sanctions easier to impose, 00:16:01.280 --> 00:16:05.450 align:middle line:84% unexplained wealth orders easier to pursue. 00:16:05.450 --> 00:16:08.000 align:middle line:84% Unexplained wealth orders were a new investigative tool 00:16:08.000 --> 00:16:11.660 align:middle line:84% given to law enforcement agencies in 2018. 00:16:11.660 --> 00:16:15.260 align:middle line:84% It's a type of court order that compels someone with assets 00:16:15.260 --> 00:16:19.400 align:middle line:84% of over £50,000 to explain how they could afford them if it 00:16:19.400 --> 00:16:21.230 align:middle line:90% doesn't seem to make sense. 00:16:21.230 --> 00:16:24.650 align:middle line:84% There have only been four cases where 00:16:24.650 --> 00:16:26.360 align:middle line:90% they've been successfully used. 00:16:26.360 --> 00:16:29.750 align:middle line:90% And the amount seized is tiny. 00:16:29.750 --> 00:16:33.410 align:middle line:84% Part of the problem is the costs of being 00:16:33.410 --> 00:16:34.808 align:middle line:90% unsuccessful in bringing them. 00:16:34.808 --> 00:16:36.350 align:middle line:84% The new Economic Crime Bill basically 00:16:36.350 --> 00:16:38.750 align:middle line:84% caps the amount of liability that police forces 00:16:38.750 --> 00:16:40.730 align:middle line:84% can have if they're ordered to pay costs. 00:16:40.730 --> 00:16:43.550 align:middle line:84% We are going to get an Economic Crime Bill 00:16:43.550 --> 00:16:46.370 align:middle line:90% 2.0 in a few months' time. 00:16:46.370 --> 00:16:49.880 align:middle line:84% I really hope that the next Economic Crime Bill really 00:16:49.880 --> 00:16:53.405 align:middle line:84% gets a handle on some of the loopholes that still remain. 00:16:56.360 --> 00:16:58.430 align:middle line:84% Kleptocracy spreads like a virus. 00:16:58.430 --> 00:17:01.950 align:middle line:84% And it starts to change how people treat power. 00:17:01.950 --> 00:17:04.339 align:middle line:84% With all this dirty money that's arrived in the UK, 00:17:04.339 --> 00:17:06.829 align:middle line:84% with all these fortunes made in kleptocracies, 00:17:06.829 --> 00:17:09.589 align:middle line:84% you've got to start to wonder, is our political system 00:17:09.589 --> 00:17:11.975 align:middle line:84% becoming more corrupt as a result? 00:17:11.975 --> 00:17:14.690 align:middle line:84% To bring an end to Londongrad, London 00:17:14.690 --> 00:17:16.369 align:middle line:90% could become much less open. 00:17:16.369 --> 00:17:18.530 align:middle line:84% We can take serious steps to limit 00:17:18.530 --> 00:17:22.849 align:middle line:84% the capacity of some types of people to come here. 00:17:22.849 --> 00:17:24.680 align:middle line:84% The political consensus is around 00:17:24.680 --> 00:17:26.180 align:middle line:84% if you like the second option, which 00:17:26.180 --> 00:17:29.630 align:middle line:84% is keeping London that is this very open rules-based place, 00:17:29.630 --> 00:17:33.800 align:middle line:84% but by trying to introduce new rules into the system 00:17:33.800 --> 00:17:37.460 align:middle line:84% to make it harder for people who are really bad actors 00:17:37.460 --> 00:17:38.870 align:middle line:90% to disguise their money. 00:17:38.870 --> 00:17:40.940 align:middle line:84% The government's approach to sanction 00:17:40.940 --> 00:17:43.715 align:middle line:84% has been far too little far too late. 00:17:43.715 --> 00:17:46.910 align:middle line:84% It's a knee-jerk response to a horrendous act 00:17:46.910 --> 00:17:49.520 align:middle line:84% of kleptocratic aggression by one 00:17:49.520 --> 00:17:51.920 align:middle line:90% of history's great kleptocrats. 00:17:51.920 --> 00:17:54.390 align:middle line:84% We have shown an amazing tolerance up to this point 00:17:54.390 --> 00:18:00.080 align:middle line:84% to people we consider to be so plugged into Putin's regime 00:18:00.080 --> 00:18:02.120 align:middle line:84% that if we confiscate some of their wealth, 00:18:02.120 --> 00:18:04.100 align:middle line:84% that will make this man change course. 00:18:04.100 --> 00:18:08.600 align:middle line:84% I first raised the issue of Abramovich over a year ago 00:18:08.600 --> 00:18:11.870 align:middle line:84% when the leader of the opposition in Russian, Navalny, 00:18:11.870 --> 00:18:14.690 align:middle line:84% was imprisoned by Vladimir Putin. 00:18:14.690 --> 00:18:17.690 align:middle line:84% Navalny said there that if the West really 00:18:17.690 --> 00:18:20.150 align:middle line:84% wanted to support democracy, we ought 00:18:20.150 --> 00:18:25.280 align:middle line:84% to take action by sanctioning Putin's cronies around him. 00:18:25.280 --> 00:18:27.187 align:middle line:84% At the time, the government took no action. 00:18:27.187 --> 00:18:29.770 align:middle line:84% It's important to remember that this is a much bigger problem. 00:18:29.770 --> 00:18:32.390 align:middle line:84% It may be called Londongrad, but actually this 00:18:32.390 --> 00:18:34.160 align:middle line:90% is not just about Russia. 00:18:34.160 --> 00:18:36.560 align:middle line:84% Our response seems to be we want to try 00:18:36.560 --> 00:18:38.480 align:middle line:90% to pressure one kleptocrat. 00:18:38.480 --> 00:18:42.680 align:middle line:84% We need to dismantle our complicity in kleptocracy 00:18:42.680 --> 00:18:44.030 align:middle line:90% wherever it comes from. 00:18:44.030 --> 00:18:48.680 align:middle line:84% Clamp down massively on secrecy in the economy and provision 00:18:48.680 --> 00:18:51.470 align:middle line:84% of secrecy by large parts of the former British Empire. 00:18:51.470 --> 00:18:54.080 align:middle line:84% The UK is in a uniquely strong position 00:18:54.080 --> 00:18:58.190 align:middle line:84% to crack down on kleptocrats because of our position 00:18:58.190 --> 00:19:01.197 align:middle line:84% as the so-called capital of money laundering. 00:19:01.197 --> 00:19:05.060 align:middle line:84% Fawning service to this dirty money over all these years 00:19:05.060 --> 00:19:07.130 align:middle line:84% has now ironically put us in the position 00:19:07.130 --> 00:19:08.570 align:middle line:90% to land the biggest blow. 00:19:08.570 --> 00:19:11.090 align:middle line:84% There are going to be clear costs 00:19:11.090 --> 00:19:13.340 align:middle line:84% to the measures that the UK has taken, 00:19:13.340 --> 00:19:15.720 align:middle line:84% exodus of businesses from Russia. 00:19:15.720 --> 00:19:20.390 align:middle line:84% We have also seen from the professional services and law 00:19:20.390 --> 00:19:23.570 align:middle line:84% firms that are based in the UK announcements 00:19:23.570 --> 00:19:26.360 align:middle line:84% that they are going to refuse to do any more 00:19:26.360 --> 00:19:28.820 align:middle line:90% work for Russian clients. 00:19:28.820 --> 00:19:31.645 align:middle line:84% There will be a financial cost to that. 00:19:31.645 --> 00:19:35.050 align:middle line:84% Dirty money has benefited certain sectors in the UK. 00:19:35.050 --> 00:19:38.710 align:middle line:84% There are professionals who have benefited in monetary terms 00:19:38.710 --> 00:19:40.855 align:middle line:84% from the dirty money flowing to the UK 00:19:40.855 --> 00:19:41.980 align:middle line:90% from the services we offer. 00:19:41.980 --> 00:19:43.900 align:middle line:84% But there are many people in the UK 00:19:43.900 --> 00:19:46.960 align:middle line:84% who have not have been economically enriched. 00:19:46.960 --> 00:19:49.570 align:middle line:90% What sort of society do we want? 00:19:55.745 --> 00:20:01.670 align:middle line:84% I will believe it's the end of Londongrad when I see it. 00:20:01.670 --> 00:20:05.840 align:middle line:84% There is a huge gulf between talking 00:20:05.840 --> 00:20:09.170 align:middle line:84% tough on things like sanctions, dirty money, 00:20:09.170 --> 00:20:14.300 align:middle line:84% and economic crime, and doing something about it. 00:20:14.300 --> 00:20:18.760 align:middle line:84% The UK is guilty of laundering the world's dirty money. 00:20:18.760 --> 00:20:21.735 align:middle line:84% We help facilitate global corruption. 00:20:21.735 --> 00:20:23.310 align:middle line:84% We in the West decided that we would 00:20:23.310 --> 00:20:27.720 align:middle line:84% march into Russia, bankers, consultants, entrepreneurs, 00:20:27.720 --> 00:20:33.180 align:middle line:84% lawyers, and remake this collapsing communist empire 00:20:33.180 --> 00:20:34.710 align:middle line:90% in our own image. 00:20:34.710 --> 00:20:37.590 align:middle line:84% But we weren't remaking the former Soviet Union 00:20:37.590 --> 00:20:39.390 align:middle line:90% in our image. 00:20:39.390 --> 00:20:44.160 align:middle line:84% The new kleptocratic order was remaking us in their image. 00:20:44.160 --> 00:20:46.980 align:middle line:84% This dirty money is poisoning our democratic institutions, 00:20:46.980 --> 00:20:49.020 align:middle line:84% suborning politicians to serve the interests 00:20:49.020 --> 00:20:51.870 align:middle line:84% of this international tiny oligarchy. 00:20:51.870 --> 00:20:53.550 align:middle line:90% It's undermining the free press. 00:20:53.550 --> 00:20:57.570 align:middle line:84% These are the only things that separate us 00:20:57.570 --> 00:21:00.150 align:middle line:84% from these authoritarian regimes. 00:21:00.150 --> 00:21:04.040 align:middle line:84% These institutions and this dirty money is corroding them.