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The article we're all commenting on is talking about the City of London in the sense of the geographic area administered by the City of London Corporation. The

by foldr 2y ago

The article we're all commenting on is talking about the City of London in the sense of the geographic area administered by the City of London Corporation. The article you linked to is talking about the shenanigans of the UK's financial sector (mostly concentrated in the City of London). The UK financial sector is regulated by the FCA. Corporations headquartered in the City of London are subject to English law just like corporations headquartered in any other part of the country. So the role that the City of London Corporation plays in money laundering is relatively minor and indirect. Of course, there may well be corruption that is worth investigating and exposing. Unfortunately, the idea of the City of London as some kind of extraterritorial legal island within the UK is catnip to conspiracy theorists of various stripes. It is complete nonsense. However, that is not to say that the City of London Corporation is not in need of reform.

dventimi 2y ago
The article title includes "the secret City of London." Without clarification, it's left to readers to decide what that means. It could mean its government actively maintains a cloak of secrecy, it could just mean that it's not well known, say, to Americans, or it could mean something in between. The latter pole--that it's not well known, say, to Americans--has been established in this thread. What I'm trying to do is offer evidence to support the former pole. If there's corruption within the City of London, that supplies a motive for its financial institutions or its government (as if there's a difference) to shield the activities that occur there from scrutiny.
- foldr 2y ago
  The UK financial services sector is involved in money laundering. That does not have much to do with its location in the City of London. The City of London Corporation is essentially just a local authority and does not have the kind of governing powers that would enable it to play a major role in money laundering. For example, it does not regulate financial transactions or pass laws (except the largely inconsequential local ‘byelaws’ that any UK local authority can pass).
  - walthamstow 2y ago
    Yes quite correct. The Corporation is a local council, it collects the bins and operates one primary school. There's always this misconception that it's some sort of lawless wild west. If it was, I assure you every company in the world would be based there!
    - dventimi 2y ago
      > The Corporation is a local council, it collects the bins and operates one primary school. Is that all it runs? > There's always this misconception that it's some sort of lawless wild west. I don't view it that way. > I assure you every company in the world would be based there! How many financial companies in the world are based there?
      - walthamstow 2y ago
        > How many financial companies in the world are based there? Many, for sure. Plenty more are headquartered in Canary Wharf, which is not in the City but in Tower Hamlets. These include Barclays, HSBC and Citigroup.
        dventimi 2y ago
        That's one way to put it. Another way to put it is "most". The City has the largest number of financial firms, the largest share of office space, and the largest share of trading volume and assets under management. It's home to the Bank of England and the London Stock Exchange, and will be home to HSBC when it finishes its move there from Canary Wharf. Those firms have been accused--indirectly--of money laundering. If they're engaged in that vice, it's plausible to me they would add the additional vice of protecting it from scrutiny. I.e. engaging in "secrecy." It need not collude with the government to do so, but if it did it would hardly be the first time business and government colluded under a veil of secrecy. As for what the actual City of London Corporation runs, since you didn't answer the question, I'll answer it for you. In addition to collecting bins and operating one school, it also runs a police department.
- lolinder 2y ago
  > The article title includes "the secret City of London." Without clarification, it's left to readers to decide what that means. Generally speaking the etiquette on HN is to at least pretend that you've read the article. I've rarely seen someone so audaciously using the fact that they didn't read the article as a defense.
  - dventimi 2y ago
    Whether or not there's an etiquette for HN, there's definitely guidelines for HN which among other things encourage commenters not to accuse each other of not reading the articles, and to give each other the benefit of the doubt. As it happens, I did read the article before writing my first comment. That would be the article which uses the word "secret" in its title but neither "secret" nor "secrecy" anywhere else in the body. Put another way, having actually read the article, among the many interesting things it says, one thing I know it doesn't say is exactly what it means by its title https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

by foldr 2y ago

dventimi 2y ago

The article title includes "the secret City of London." Without clarification, it's left to readers to decide what that means. It could mean its government actively maintains a cloak of secrecy, it could just mean that it's not well known, say, to Americans, or it could mean something in between. The latter pole--that it's not well known, say, to Americans--has been established in this thread. What I'm trying to do is offer evidence to support the former pole. If there's corruption within the City of London, that supplies a motive for its financial institutions or its government (as if there's a difference) to shield the activities that occur there from scrutiny.

foldr 2y ago
The UK financial services sector is involved in money laundering. That does not have much to do with its location in the City of London. The City of London Corporation is essentially just a local authority and does not have the kind of governing powers that would enable it to play a major role in money laundering. For example, it does not regulate financial transactions or pass laws (except the largely inconsequential local ‘byelaws’ that any UK local authority can pass).
- walthamstow 2y ago
  Yes quite correct. The Corporation is a local council, it collects the bins and operates one primary school. There's always this misconception that it's some sort of lawless wild west. If it was, I assure you every company in the world would be based there!
  - dventimi 2y ago
    > The Corporation is a local council, it collects the bins and operates one primary school. Is that all it runs? > There's always this misconception that it's some sort of lawless wild west. I don't view it that way. > I assure you every company in the world would be based there! How many financial companies in the world are based there?
    - walthamstow 2y ago
      > How many financial companies in the world are based there? Many, for sure. Plenty more are headquartered in Canary Wharf, which is not in the City but in Tower Hamlets. These include Barclays, HSBC and Citigroup.
      - dventimi 2y ago
        That's one way to put it. Another way to put it is "most". The City has the largest number of financial firms, the largest share of office space, and the largest share of trading volume and assets under management. It's home to the Bank of England and the London Stock Exchange, and will be home to HSBC when it finishes its move there from Canary Wharf. Those firms have been accused--indirectly--of money laundering. If they're engaged in that vice, it's plausible to me they would add the additional vice of protecting it from scrutiny. I.e. engaging in "secrecy." It need not collude with the government to do so, but if it did it would hardly be the first time business and government colluded under a veil of secrecy. As for what the actual City of London Corporation runs, since you didn't answer the question, I'll answer it for you. In addition to collecting bins and operating one school, it also runs a police department.
lolinder 2y ago
> The article title includes "the secret City of London." Without clarification, it's left to readers to decide what that means. Generally speaking the etiquette on HN is to at least pretend that you've read the article. I've rarely seen someone so audaciously using the fact that they didn't read the article as a defense.
- dventimi 2y ago
  Whether or not there's an etiquette for HN, there's definitely guidelines for HN which among other things encourage commenters not to accuse each other of not reading the articles, and to give each other the benefit of the doubt. As it happens, I did read the article before writing my first comment. That would be the article which uses the word "secret" in its title but neither "secret" nor "secrecy" anywhere else in the body. Put another way, having actually read the article, among the many interesting things it says, one thing I know it doesn't say is exactly what it means by its title https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html