A report published Monday says the British government has turned a blind eye to the role London's financial center plays in laundering the proceeds of Russian corruption.
The British Parliament's foreign affairs committee says in its report that despite the tough rhetoric over the nerve agent attack on the former Russian spy in Britain, Sergei Skripal, earlier this year, President Vladimir Putin's allies were able to continue “business as usual” in the country, which helps the Kremlin finance its aggressive foreign policy.
The report says “the use of London as a base for the corrupt assets of Kremlin-connected individuals is now linked to a wider Russia strategy with implications for the UK's national security.''
Failing to act signals that Britain “is not serious about confronting the full spectrum of President Putin's offensive measures,'' the committee says. "The scale of damage that this 'dirty money' can do to UK foreign policy interests dwarfs the benefit of Russian transactions in the City," said committee chairman Tom Tugendhat.
The report particularly criticizes one of Britain's most prestigious law firms, Linklaters, over its work on deals involving Russian companies close to Putin, saying that it had become "so entwined in the corruption of the Kremlin and its supporters that they are no longer able to meet the standards expected of a UK-regulated law firm".
Linklaters said it was "very surprised and concerned" at the criticism and rejected any suggestion of being involved in corruptive activities.
