Critics call for tighter regulation to prevent illicit Russian investment

摘要

Calls are mounting for tighter regulations to prevent the flow of dirty money into UK real estate, particularly from Russia, following the publication of a damning report highlighting the scale of the problem. Last week, parliament's intelligence and security committee released a long-awaited report into Russian activity in the UK, pointing the finger at property agents and lawyers whom it accused of wittingly or unwittingly become "de facto enablers of the Russian state". Prominent critic of the Kremlin Bill Browder, who was once one of Russia's largest foreign portfolio investors, told Property Week: "Regulators don't regulate. There's been effectively no prosecutions for money laundering in this country, and until there are consequences everyone is going to carry on with their dirty business with these people."