The U.K. is ignoring the fact that “dirty” Russian money is being laundered through London, undermining the government’s efforts to respond to the Kremlin’s aggressive foreign policy, according to a report released Monday by the U.K. parliament’s foreign affairs committee.
“The use of London as a base for the corrupt assets of Kremlin-connected individuals is now clearly linked to a wider Russian strategy,” the report said. “Combating it should be a major U.K. foreign policy priority.”
The report warned that “turning a blind eye to London’s role in hiding the proceeds of Kremlin-connected corruption risks signaling that the U.K. is not serious about confronting the full spectrum” of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “offensive measures.”
Committee chairman Tom Tugendhat told the BBC’s Today program “the last six to 12 months has shown us” that money-laundering “is no longer just a crime, it is actually a threat to national security.”
The committee called on Britain to strengthen sanctions against Moscow by working with international allies to make it harder for Russia to issue sovereign bonds, which aren’t subject to sanctions, through banks that are. It also recommended the U.K. work with the EU both before and after Brexit, in consultation with the U.S. Treasury and intelligence agencies, “to identify and sanction the individuals and entities on whom the Kremlin relies in carrying out its acts of aggression.”