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Murder of top Russian banker The senior Russian central bank official who was shot dead this week was a prominent campaigner against money-laundering. No matter what one thinks of some of the more oppressive laws against money transfers – as a libertarian, I find a lot of such laws counter-productive and intrusive of privacy – there is no doubt that Russia has a terrible reputation for financial skulduggery. By going against financial hoodlums, it sadly appears this guy signed his death warrant.
Funnily enough, this story does not appear to have caused much of a stir outside the business sections and some of the foreign bits of the press. I find that a bit odd, if not chilling. A senior central bank official gets murdered. Imagine the reaction if a top official working for the Bank of England or the Fed got killed.
Russia has a long, long way to go before it becomes a place in which civilised people will want to do business.
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Russia’s like that. I recall reading a story in St Pete in the early 90’s headed “Riga Banker Slain in Broad Daylight” which ended with the words “Police described the killing as “a settling of accounts between rival bankers””.
Luckily, Lloyds and NatWest are more reasonable in their dealings.
Couldn’t happen here of course. . . except that Roberto Calvi, “the Pope’s banker” was found hanging by his neck from Blackfriers Bridge, London, in 1982.
Here, they don’t shoot bankers, the US Mint declares war on the Liberty Dollar (Link)…… this story is my blogs all time record hits…. over 6,000 today…
The Russian stock market actually went up. V. depressing.
As I said in my two pieces on it, it’s been all the talk over here and it represents far more than just an attack on Putin’s reforms. Far more than at any other time, it has been seen as a body blow by the average citizen, who had hoped that we’d got over that sort of thing after 98. It’s given many the jitters, not becasue they see themselves in personal danger but because it’s a throwback.