Russian Deputy PM says 1,000 Russian banks are money-launderers

April 4, 2011 - Sergey Ivanov, the Russian deputy prime minister, spoke at a Council on Foreign Relations lunch today. I asked if he thought the U.S. and Russia should get together to put a stop to offshore tax evasion. He smiled and agreed that the two countries need to deal with the international offshore system. That was something to consider in the future. And then he said, "There are more than 1,000 banks in Russia. They are not banks but launderers."