Abstract

Long considered a form of regime, kleptocracy is increasingly understood in terms of its offshore and transnational networks which are used to extract resources from a particular country. However, law enforcement often struggles to combat kleptocratic financial flows for a variety of reasons - from their complex structures to difficulties tying the transactions to a predicate crime. Such capital can have a deleterious effect not only on the integrity of financial instititutions, but also on the rule of law and democracy, with cases in point being 'Londongrad' and 'the Azerbaijani Laundromat' which saw billions transferred through UK shell companies, some of which was funelled to politicians in Europe. Heathershaw, Mayne and Prelec's 2025 book 'Indulging Kleptocracy' (Oxford University Press) laid out the arguments for why kleptocracy is problem, drawing on many case studies from Eurasia and Central Asia yet emphasising how professional enablers across a range of industries in the UK are key to the operation of such kleptocratic schemes.

The authors have moved the discussion forward even further in a new paper which discusses the idea of the 'kleptocratic enterprise'. This paper, which again draws in examples from Central Asia, emphasises how the supply-side of the economy, downstream geographies and lawful practices are integral to kleptocracy in the offshore era and suggests that the kleptocratic enterprise may not simply be a useful academic concept but may have utility in law in tackling illicit finance linked to grand corruption. The roundtable aims to examine the kleptocratic enterprise as a concept, and to dissect the arguments regarding a new legal framework which aims to tackle it, analysing such issues as the reversal of the burden of proof and societal harm. It will be aimed at any attendee interested in political economy, international relations, law and criminology.