The U.S. is the easiest place in the world for a criminal, terrorist, tax cheat, or kleptocrat to open an anonymous shell company to launder their money with impunity. Anonymous corporations are great ways to hide money and other assets — they can hold a bank account or buy a yacht. Criminals often layer anonymous corporations, with one owning another and so on, making it even harder for law enforcement to “trace the money” and figure out who is directing the company’s activity. It’s time to ending the use of anonymous shell companies as vehicles for illicit activity by requiring that the true owners of U.S. companies be disclosed at the time of formation and updated upon any change.
A nationwide preliminary injunction preventing Treasury from enforcing the Corporate Transparency Act “is a Christmas gift to criminals who use anonymous shell companies to traffic fentanyl, exploit people, and hide dirty money.”
Read the new letter from FACT and Transparency International U.S. urging Treasury to meet its statutory deadline for important aligning regulations required under the Corporate Transparency Act.
Read FACT’s official statement for the record calling for effective implementation of critical domestic anti-money laundering measures ahead of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s recent congressional testimony on the state of the international financial system.
The Court of Appeals must find the Corporate Transparency Act constitutional and allow this long overdue U.S. financial reform to continue to be fully implemented. If not, the Court will give a free pass to fentanyl traffickers, tax evaders, and U.S. adversaries to abuse the opacity of the U.S. financial system.
FACT provides Senate testimony twice in one week, and Treasury’s new draft rules for real estate transactions and investment advisers draw the U.S. closer to shedding it’s status as the world’s number-one destination for dirty money.
Read FACT government affairs director Erica Hanichak’s testimony before the Senate Drug Caucus, which highlights the importance of beneficial ownership transparency toward detecting and dismantling drug trafficking networks.
