Greetings: There is a huge difference beween having legislation on the books and actually enforcing it in a manner not motivated by political considerations. As I described in my article published by Demokratizatsiia 2 years ago, if you look at the then-current Forbes List of the World's billionaires, the vast majority of Russi's Billionaires, unlike other countries, were described as self-made as opposed to a particular source (e.g. inheritance). In recent year's, it may possible to identify a legal source of those Russians' present income -- but the question remains -- how did they get started and why do they tend to be so much younger than their foreign counterparts? While some undoubtedly individuals made their money in a lawful manner, a large share made their money in violation of numerous Russian laws (such as abuse of office). Many of such individuals act as shills for their government-employed relatives and friends. Note that numerous countries anti-money laundering rules have "know your customers" rules which require the disclosure of the source of funds when making a large purchase. Unfortunately, all too often Western banks and professionals are the facilitators of Russian money laundering. President Medvedev may be attempting to bring Russia in line with international legal norms, but their are too many people who are obstacles to its implementation.