FCA ups ‘dirty money’ probe
Concern over Russia amid crackdown
THE City watchdog have warned Russia is “an issue” as they stepped up a war on “dirty money” flowing through the UK.
The Financial Conduct Authority made tackling financial crime and money laundering one of their seven top tasks for the year.
FCA chief Andrew Bailey said the topic had “moved up the league table in the last year”. He added that the situation with Russia “at the moment is an issue”.
MPs recently launched a probe into allegations that nearly £900million of UK property has been bought with Russian “dirty money”. However, the FCA were left facing questions of their own after the US imposed sanctions on seven Russian oligarchs and their companies.
They include Jersey-based energy up 11.1 at Putin 7194.8 Ferguson GKN GlaxoSmithKline Halfords Hays HSBC Imperial Brands International Airlines Grp ITV Kingfisher Land Securities Legal & General Lloyds Marks & Spencer Morrison National Grid Next Old Mutual Pearson Prudential Reckitt Benckiser company EN+, who are controlled by Oleg Deripaska, a tycoon with close ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin.
The FCA allowed EN+ to float on the London Stock Exchange last November.
However, the US claims Deripaska has been investigated for money laundering, bribery, extortion and racketeering.
Shares in EN+ dived 42 per cent yesterday, with those in other firms hit by US sanctions also down.
The rouble suffered its biggest one day fall for two years.
It comes amid heightened tensions with Russia following the Salisbury poisoning attack, Moscow’s alleged involvement in the 2016 presidential election and their backing of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad. 5272.0 421.0 1421.4 340.4 185.1 670.3 2537.0 624.8 149.1 294.9 953.1 263.7 66.7 268.0 224.7 833.8 4838.0 234.5 745.4 1789.0 6184.0 Oil -4.0 -1.7 -1.2 -2.0 -0.3 +5.5 -17.5 +9.2 +1.0 +0.1 -0.6 +2.0 +0.3 -1.0 +0.6 +9.3 +67.0 -0.8 +4.4 +10.0 -35.0 = $68.47 RELX 1523.5 Rentokil Initial 275.2 Rio Tinto 3600.5 Rolls-Royce 878.8 Royal Mail 553.2 RSA 651.4 RBS 261.4 J Sainsbury 244.7 SSE 1299.5 Severn Trent 1895.5 Serco 91.7 Sports Direct 370.0 Shell 2371.5 Sky 1317.0 Smith & Nephew 1324.0 Smiths WH 1975.0 Stagecoach 137.9 Standard Chartered 715.2 Standard Life Aberdeen..367.5 TalkTalk 116.6 Taylor Wimpey 187.9 Tesco 205.6 +5.5 +1.4 +40.5 +10.8 -3.4 -1.0 +0.4 -1.3 +3.0 +10.5 -2.3 -1.6 +8.5 +1.5 +7.0 -13.0 -1.8 +2.7 +2.1 -6.6 -0.9 +0.9 THE Financial Conduct Authority are facing a £30million bill for Brexit.
The regulators said £14million of work would be delayed to help cover the cost, with the rest coming from reserves or higher fees.
The money, from the FCA’s £544million-a-year budget, will be used to advise the Government and prepare firms for life outside the EU.
The FCA are also looking at how motor insurers “inflate claims” by referring cases to claims management firms.
They will probe everything from household insurance and credit costs to whether firms are keeping people’s personal data safe. Thomas Cook Unilever United Utilities Vodafone Trinity Mirror 119.1 3978.5 731.4 203.7 82.6 +0.3 -35.5 +6.6 -0.4 -0.6