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The huge wealth of the Russian oligarchs has come in for intense scrutiny from regulators and financial watchdogs. An objective of the sanctions was to dent the fortunes of the wealthiest people in Russia and the financial infrastructure in the hope of persuading the government to change their strategy in Ukraine.

Oliver Bullough, an author who has written about wealth and corruption, explains that oligarchs are not the independent people that they used to be, but now tend to be managers of state companies and big state contractors. They may own their companies, but they do so for as long as Putin wants them to.

He says that in order for the oligarchs to be persuaded to push Putin to change his approach in Ukraine, sanctions will need to cause them "economic pain". As the majority of the oligarchs' wealth is held offshore, for that to happen, that will need to be located and confiscated.

"If Western countries can find that wealth, freeze it and threaten to confiscate it, then owners might be amenable to coming to some sort of arrangement."

Photo: Hong Kong skyline Credit: Getty Images

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