Extract from Scottish Parliament debate on Ukraine - Feb 24

Michelle Thomson (Falkirk East) (SNP)

In earlier debates, I have stated that £190 billion of financial crime plus £100 billion of money laundering occurs every year in the UK. Presiding Officer, I was wrong to quote the figure of £290 billion—I have underestimated the amount of money laundering. The UK’s National Crime Agency has stated that, because of the presence of the City of London’s financial sector,

“there is a realistic possibility”

that it is

“annually in the hundreds of billions of pounds”.

Money laundering on a gigantic scale, a significant proportion of which will involve Russian institutions and oligarchs, has been met with indifference for years. An economic crime bill has been talked about and then dropped—I will watch to see whether it will now proceed...

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