Dr. Jim Stewart:

Russian wealth going abroad to be invested in different assets is a widely used practice. There is a focus on yachts owned by the oligarchs and works of art but I would say that the bulk of Russian wealth abroad is held in the form of holding companies and companies owning various assets. Such assets could be property or other kinds of assets. We do not know. It is very difficult to know what countries are involved and it is quite likely that there is no single country involved. Rather there is a chain of ownership. For example, the real asset is in the US and is owned by a subsidiary in Canada, which is in turn owned by a subsidiary in Ireland or Bermuda, which in turn is owned by five different companies. The chain seems to stop with the Ireland or Bermuda company but the reality is that it is not where it stops at all. It is carefully disguised. What you can certainly say is that Russian oligarchs are very well-funded and can afford the best brains to develop corporate structures that are very well hidden and very difficult to track down.