UK may stop Russian firms raising money in London

Bloomberg

Boris Johnson said the UK proposes to stop Russian firms from raising capital in London’s financial markets, part of measures targeting Vladimir Putin’s administration if it decides to invade Ukraine.
The move is part of a “very tough package of sanctions” that’s “ready to go,” the British prime minister said in a pooled TV interview in London. Johnson also said the government is taking more steps “to unpeel the facade of Russian property holdings whether in this city or elsewhere.”
Boris Johnson says the UK will “take steps to stop Russian companies from raising capital on London financial markets” if Russia invades Ukraine — part of a “very tough” package of sanctions Johnson’s remarks are the most detailed yet about the economic punishments Britain is preparing to unleash on Russia if it sends troops into Ukraine. The UK last week published sanctions legislation strengthening government powers to impose restrictions on Russia and on its businesses in industries including finance, chemicals, mining and energy.
While UK and US officials say Russia could invade its neighbour as soon as this week, Putin has repeatedly denied he intends to do so. Johnson said there are “mixed signals” and that current intelligence “is not encouraging.”
In the interview, Johnson also pledged to bring forward legislation to tackle economic crime later this year. That will include measures to come good on a long-held promise to make foreign ownership of UK assets more transparent.
Likening the plan to opening up a traditional Russian Matryoshka doll, Johnson said Britain wants to “see who really owns the companies that we’re talking about, who really owns the properties that we’re talking about.”
Asked if the legislation would be included in the Queen’s Speech to open the next parliamentary session, Johnson replied: “yes.” A date hasn’t yet been set for that yet, though it typically takes place in May.
The plan to register foreign owners of UK property answers a demand from both Johnson’s own Conservative Party’s rank-and-file lawmakers, and from the opposition Labour Party, whose leader, Keir Starmer, said the ruling party has enabled rather than challenged Russian influence over the past decade.
“As a result, the UK is seen as a laundromat for kleptocrats’ dirty money, our institutions have been damaged and an entire cottage industry has grown up dedicated to lobbying for and protecting those close to the Kremlin,” Starmer said in an emailed statement. He urged Johnson to return “millions of pounds of Russian-linked cash that has been donated to the Tories and their MPs since he became Prime Minister.”
The Conservative Party didn’t have an immediate response to Starmer’s remarks.