War in Ukraine: economists want to target the hidden money of Russian oligarchs
In the sights of economists, Russian businessmen, like Roman Abramovich, the president of Chelsea football club.
REUTERS - Andrew Winning
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
Several economists want to increase the pressure on Moscow to force Russia to stop the offensive in Ukraine.
Among them, big names like the French Thomas Piketty and Gabriel Zucman, or the American Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz.
They wrote to G20 leaders asking them to tackle the hidden money of Russian oligarchs, already targeted by international sanctions, on the eve of Wednesday's G20 Finance meeting which brings together the world's richest countries.
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In the viewfinder, Russian businessmen, such as Roman Abramovich, the president of the Chelsea football club or even Igor Setchine, boss of the oil company Rosneft.
They are close to Vladimir Putin.
They have “
at least $1 trillion in overseas wealth
,” according to these renowned economists.
They are all members of the Independent Commission for the Reform of International Business Taxation (ICRICT), a think tank.
These
oligarchs
try to avoid sanctions by turning, for example, to Dubai and its financial schemes.
They also transfer their money in cryptocurrencies, to use it in countries where their presence is not prohibited.
►
To listen: What consequence of the economic sanctions against the Russian oligarchs in Europe?
Create a global registry of wealthy assets
To block their way, ICRIT economists propose to establish a global register of the assets of these great fortunes.
The objective: to identify not their legal owners, who may be a facade, but their real beneficiaries, the real owners.
These economists also want to create a global network that would connect all national asset registers.
That is to say all the wealth that an individual possesses, their nature and the place where they are.
From bank accounts to real estate, to works of art and crypto-assets.
There “
still remains a lot to do to reform a failing international financial system which is currently biased in favor of the wealthy champions of tax evasion
”, finally deplore these economists.
►
To read: War in Ukraine: Russian oligarchs distance themselves from Moscow
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