alt Hacker NewsAs a Brit, I've never had the sense the UK (specifically the City of London) has any genuine interest in tackling money laundering. I suspect our economy is structurally reliant upon us being extremely good at it.
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Really? What are you basing that on?
Having worked at FinTechs and in finance in general that doesn't ring true at all. The FCA definitely takes anti-money laundering checks quite seriously.
e.g. (off the top of my head) NatWest were fined £264 million for AML breaches.
I'm no expert by any means but if I wanted to flout the rules I'd definitely consider a few other juristictions before the City.
Isn't the whole point of the City of London, to be a legal money laundering economic zone, that brings banks, corporations, money and jobs to the UK?
I think the power is knowing who is moving what and where
Western affluence was built on the movement of stolen people and goods; it stands to reason that its maintenance in an era where one of those is illegal and the other involves somewhat less looting might involve the movement of stolen debt (money).
If an oligarch extracts wealth from Russia and parks it in London... that seems like a win for London?
It is a bit anarcho-tyrannical in nature though. That is, the AML/FCA stuff then has the outcome of only effectively constraining the UK's own law-abiding citizens. Which is... something of a disadvantage?
Especially when half of what the FCA puts out in terms of regulations is pure time-wasting theater.