Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department plans to take steps to freeze the assets held in the UK by the 39 Russian nationals named in the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act passed by the US Congress and President Obama in 2012.

The Government has not taken steps to prevent individuals named in the US Rule of Law Accountability Act, from holding assets in UK banks or UK listed companies. The Government’s approach to strengthening human rights globally focuses on multilateral and bilateral action to hold to account those states responsible for the worst violations of human rights, and working with those states determined to strengthen protections in locally appropriate ways.

The National Crime Agency treats allegations of money laundering with the utmost seriousness and will continue to support inquiries in the UK that are designed to help bring justice in jurisdictions that can target the criminality in this case.