David Cameron vows crackdown on launderers of 'dirty money' in UK

Prime Minister David Cameron is set to announce fresh measures to tighten the screws on corrupt foreigners who launder "dirty money" in Britain.

Cameron's major announcement will come at an anti-corruption address in Singapore which he is visiting on the second leg of his four-day Southeast Asia tour leading a business delegation.

He will also urge a global crackdown on the "cancer of corruption" to beat the image that the London property market is increasingly becoming a "safe haven" for money laundering.

According to an advanced press release, the British premier will warn that some properties, especially in London, "are being bought by people overseas through anonymous shell companies, some with plundered or laundered cash".

Cameron will also say, for the first time, that the Land Registry will release the names of properties owned by foreign companies in autumn.

Cameron's measures come on top of proposals put forth by campaign group, Transparency International, which estimates that one in 10 properties in the City of Westminster is owned by firms which are registered in an offshore secrecy jurisdiction.

In all, £122bn worth of properties across England and Wales are estimated to be owned by offshore companies.

Cameron will add: "I want Britain to be the most open country in the world for investment. But I want to ensure that all this money is clean money."

"There is no place for dirty money in Britain. Indeed, there should no place for dirty money anywhere. "

The Tory government is also planning measures which will reveal the true owners of British companies registered offshore.

Campaign groups like Transparency International and Global Witness have hailed the announcement.

Global Witness's Chido Dunn said: "Some of the Gaddafi family's stolen loot ended up in London – a famous example but far from a one-off."

"Unless we know who is behind these companies and where their money has come from, the cash will keep pouring in."

It is significant that Cameron chose Singapore as the venue for the anti-corruption announcement since Singapore's founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew was known for his crusade against graft.