Wealthy Russians will leave Britain or remove money from the City of London because of Labour’s high tax policies, according to a leading investment guru.

Alexei Golubovich, chairman of Arbat Capital investment advisers, said the trend would cost the British economy hundreds of millions of pounds.

How an Economy Grows a... Schiff, Andrew J. Best Price: $1.99 Buy New $7.20 (as of 11:05 UTC - Details)

His warning of a capital flight comes after a decade which has seen affluent Reds-to-Riches billionaires buying up property, investing their vast fortunes, and using London as their gateway to the West.

The popularity became so great that Russians renamed the capital city ‘Londongrad’ or ‘Moscow-on-Thames’ – but now all that is about to change, according to Alexei Golubovich, chairman of Arbat Capital investment advisers.

‘Changes in the tax laws of Great Britain are making more worries for those foreigners who have English residence permits or passports,’ he said, suggesting that ‘many Russians will leave Britain for this reason’.

Direct Citizen Action:... Ostrowski, James Best Price: $0.47 Buy New $5.75 (as of 09:05 UTC - Details)

He stressed: ‘Living in London is not favourable any more.’ He also claimed tax changes imposed or planned by Labour will force capital abroad to the detriment of the British economy.

‘More and more wealthy foreigners, living in Britain for more than 90 days a year and paying income tax, are transferring their financial assets to other countries, and even moving themselves to Switzerland, Cyprus, Hong Kong or Singapore,’ he said in an interview with influential Vedomosti business newspaper.

Where Keynes Went Wron... Lewis, Hunter Best Price: $5.00 Buy New $9.79 (as of 05:00 UTC - Details)

‘According to unofficial estimates of bankers serving the most affluent Russian clients, from 10 to 25 per cent are considering the option of moving their funds to other countries, as well as changing the country where they are registered for tax.’

The sums involved represented hundreds of millions of pounds, he said, likening the situation to the 1970s when many wealthy people left Britain.

He told Russians that ‘tens of billions of dollars’ has been withdrawn already from British banks by foreigners of all nationalities.

‘More money will not come into the country in the coming years because the owners do not want to pay British taxes on what was earned abroad,’ he said.

‘It is difficult to estimate how much money will be lost for the budget due to the fact that British banks will not earn commission from money moved to Switzerland or Hong Kong, and the fact that those moneys will not be invested in UK economy.’

Read the rest of the article

April 28, 2010

The Best of Will Stewart

$post_author: WP_User Object
(
    [data] => stdClass Object
        (
            [ID] => 2929
            [user_login] => will-stewart
            [user_pass] => fa193c076b58f1f4fa45b3532304d4d0
            [user_nicename] => will-stewart
            [user_email] => [email protected]
            [user_url] => 
            [user_registered] => 2012-11-02 09:11:07
            [user_activation_key] => 
            [user_status] => 0
            [display_name] => Will Stewart
            [type] => wpuser
        )

    [ID] => 2929
    [caps] => Array
        (
            [contributor] => 1
        )

    [cap_key] => wp_capabilities
    [roles] => Array
        (
            [0] => contributor
        )

    [allcaps] => Array
        (
            [edit_posts] => 1
            [read] => 1
            [level_1] => 1
            [level_0] => 1
            [delete_posts] => 1
            [email_single_user] => 1
            [contributor] => 1
        )

    [filter] => 
    [site_id:WP_User:private] => 1
)

get_the_author_meta: 

$bio: 

$bios: Array
(
)