London has long had the dubious reputation of being the world’s money laundering capital and it looks like it’s a title it is likely to retain for some time yet.

The fact the city and the U.K. are major money laundering centers should be no surprise: criminals and kleptocrats will always aim to funnel dirty funds where money flows are greatest. But the scale of the activity is shocking. Unfortunately, experts are unconvinced that the situation will change quickly.

At the beginning of this year, London regained its position as the biggest global financial center, edging out New York. According to the Bank of England’s figures, some 767 billion pounds (U.S. $971 million) on average flows through the U.K.’s financial system per day.  And given the country’s prominence as a key financial center (along with Crown dependencies and overseas territories such as the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands), it stands to reason that a substantial amount of it is dirty money: up to 40 percent of the world’s total, according to a former U.K. government minister.