The ‘London laundromat’: will Britain wean itself off Russian money?

Is this the reason for the sluggish sanctions? The past twenty years have seen London become one of the preferred investment locations for Russian oligarchs and a key financial centre for Russian companies, all encouraged by an array of British governments. Some call it the “London laundromat”: a machine that allowed billions of pounds, much of it acquired through questionable means, to be funnelled out of the Russian economy and into the UK. However, the war in Ukraine could significantly change this. Boris Johnson has launched a crackdown on oligarchs and companies linked to Vladimir Putin. But, as Daniel Thomas, Laura Hughes, George Hammond, Stephen Morris, and Kate Beioley explore, the UK sanctions are far less comprehensive than those imposed by other western countries.