U.K. Shell Companies Forced Into Danske Laundromat Limelight

  • Whistle-blower calls U.K. role in shell companies a ‘disgrace’
  • Danske Bank hearings reveal much bigger scale of illict flows
Howard WilkinsonPhotographer: Jasper Juinen/Bloomberg
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A setup long acknowledged as dubious but tolerated in many countries just got thrown into the limelight.

Shell companies -- constructions often used to hide the identity of investors keen to dodge authorities -- played a key role in Europe’s dirty money machine as billions of dollars flowed from Russia into the west. Danske Bank A/S was allegedly at the center of the laundromat, but it was far from alone.