Urgent Letter on Economic Crime Bill Amendments
One of the goals of the campaign is transparency over who owns and controls properties in the borough.
Ahead of a key vote on Monday 7th March, the campaign co-founders sent a letter to local MP Felicity Buchan calling on her to support amendments that would strengthen the draft Economic Crime Bill.
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Dear Felicity Buchan MP,
As you know, the Ukraine crisis has meant residents across Kensington are asking what they can do to help in the wake of the shocking invasion of Ukraine by Vladimir Putin. The outpouring of support to our Ukrainian community has been inspiring to see.
Now we need urgent action to put our own house in order to end the dirty money for which our borough is sadly famous. After years of government inaction and complacency, a diverse local coalition is now launching a grassroots Kensington Against Dirty Money campaign this week. Over twenty local organisations, businesses, a cross-party group of councillors and candidates, and charities working nationally and internationally on anti-corruption and inequality have endorsed the campaign.
As you are no doubt aware, there are over 6000 properties registered to foreign owners in Kensington and Chelsea, mostly to anonymous shell companies registered in tax havens. A quarter are based in Jersey and the British Virgin Islands. Research from Transparency International has shown that there is at least £1.5billion worth of property owned by Russian individuals accused of corruption or with links to the Kremlin in the UK – nearly a fifth of this is in Kensington and Chelsea. Many stand empty, hurting local businesses and communities.
At the same time we have a housing crisis with more than 3,000 households waiting for a home and 2,100 in temporary accommodation. The council is one of the worst performers nationally for meeting its housing delivery targets set by the central government.
Dirty money is directly contributing to Kensington being the most unequal borough in the country, with four of the top 10 most expensive streets in England while one in four kids grow up in poverty.
Residents are now calling for action.
We are urging you to support amendments to the Economic Crime Bill tomorrow that will give it more teeth and remove massive loopholes. For example, the implementation period must be much shorter than the proposed 18 months that would allow oligarchs to sell off their properties before any transparency comes about. We are calling on you to support amendments that will:
Take immediate steps to prevent asset shifting during the transition period for the property register in this Bill, and introduce measures to ensure the effectiveness of the property register in the long term.
Require the Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories (CDOTs) to establish public registers of beneficial ownership this year, and request full access for UK authorities to their company registers in the meantime.
Commit to properly resourcing law enforcement agencies and protecting them against the costs of pursuing economic crime.
Increase the powers of law enforcement to bring criminal sanctions evasion cases and to seize frozen assets where those subject to sanctions do not change their behaviour.
The government should also commit to including a second Economic Crime Bill in the next Queen’s Speech and bringing the Bill forward as soon as possible in the next session so that Companies House reform and other essential aspects of tacking dirty money can be advanced.
As the Member of Parliament for the constituency that has suffered most from dirty money and inequality in the country, your support for these amendments is essential.
For too long, Kensington has been the epicentre of Britain’s dirty money problem. We need to curb corrupt funds in Kensington property, go after empty homes, and invest in desperately needed social housing.
Yours sincerely,
Joe Powell and Flo Hutchings
Co-Founders
Kensington Against Dirty Money
