Billionaire's Nationality Still Matters, Except When It Shouldn't
XTX's multi-billionaire founder, Alexander Gerko, reportedly faced refusal of services from accounting firm Mazars, an issue the court found was indeed due to his Russian nationality. This saga unfolded as Western nations, including the UK, rushed to impose sanctions following the 2022 Ukraine invasion. Yet, for all the performative condemnation of 'Russian influence,' one rarely sees such swift,
blanket denial of services to individuals connected to, say, Saudi Arabia, a state with its own well-documented human rights record, particularly when arms deals and oil interests are on the line. (£21.8 billion in UK arms sales to Saudi over a decade, for those keeping score, according to Campaign Against Arms Trade.) So, discrimination is bad, we're told, unless it aligns with the geopolitical
narrative of the day. One might wonder if the Financial Times would dedicate similar column inches to detailing every instance a Palestinian-American might be denied banking services or travel, often under opaque 'security concerns.' (The very same FT that will happily laud new Gulf state investments.) It appears that some forms of discrimination are not only permissible but are effectively
state-sanctioned policy, conveniently repackaged as 'strategic necessity' when it applies to certain nationalities but not others. A clear reminder that 'justice' often wears a different uniform depending on who's paying for the laundry.