What is to be done about Russian oligarchs laundering money in London?

The question was posed by John Batchelor in response to a report for his audience by the Wall Street Journal's Mary Kissel. (Podcast: "The Kremlin lets London as a laundromat & What is to be done?")

I think I can see how the Wall Street Journal would consider Russian oligarchs laundering money in London to be a newsworthy problem for Americans. But I'd say a bigger problem for Americans is that by 2016 the U.S. was becoming the world's largest tax haven for wealthy foreigners. 

Here's a more recent report on the issue: The peculiarities of the US financial system make it ideal for money laundering, published March 16, 2018. 

As for the corruption of the Russian government that Mary decried in her report, the United States of America is now the second most corrupt nation. 

It could be argued that the lack of transparency cited by the Tax Justice Network doesn't necessarily equate to corruption, but I think my point is clear enough. The answer to John's question is tend to your own fences.  

As for believing what the British Parliament says about Russian money laundering in London, what year does Mary Kissel think this is? Time was, the British regime could tell whoppers with assurance that the public would be none the wiser for at least a generation. Today it's more like 15 minutes.

Speaking of the Skripal case, tell us again, Mary and John, how the Skripals were poisoned with a nerve agent that is supposed to be about 8 times more deadly than VX. 

For the those who haven't been keeping track of the British investigation, suspicion has now fallen on the Persian cat. The Iranians, of course, if the cat was really Persian. If not, well, it must have been a Russian cat. 

Anyhow after petting the cat the Skripals drove to a cemetery to pay their respects to a deceased member of the family.  Then they went to a restaurant for lunch. After lunch they went to a pub. Then for a walk in a park. There they finally had the sense to notice they'd been poisoned with a deadly nerve agent. Then they collapsed on a park bench. 

As to how the cat managed to convey the poison on its fur without dropping dead -- well obviously the cat had the antidote. So don't you believe there's no antidote for that poison. Of course there's an antidote because the Skripals wouldn't have petted a cat who'd been acting pretty damn strange.   

All right Pundita that's enough.      

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