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“We need publicly accessible corporate registries in every jurisdiction, from the British Virgin Islands to Anguilla to the Seychelles to Labuan to Delaware. Now. And if you hear resistance, that sound you hear is the sound of a politician who must be sacked.”

Stamping out offshore activity is key to limiting the Kremlin’s influence. Unfortunately, reluctance to do so demonstrates the depth of corruption as well as the potential health hazards associated with disclosing governmental links to offshore havens. Daphne Caruana Galizia exposed Malta’s links. Her car exploded one morning shortly after leaving her home. Probably a coincidence.

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Yes, more transparency is needed! But also yes, too many people are benefiting from the current system.

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Who has the definitive list of where the Russian yachts are located now? It would be useful to drag a few of them to Ukraine before next winter, use them for housing, hospitals and as floating generators. A nice visual for RT and Simoyan. Have you looked at this or heard of anyone trying to do this?

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There's no definitive list. The US is looking to sell seized yachts and use the money for Ukraine, but the judicial process is long and complicated. In fact, a number of cases in Europe are also tied up in legal proceedings. It's very difficult to prove who the owner is, and without that, it's hard to just seize the property. And rightly so. We don't want any government to be able to seize property just because they say a bad guy owns it. We still need rule of law.

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