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.
FACT Government Affairs Director Erica Hanichak spoke before the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control on ways legislators can deny drug traffickers and the corrupt officials they work with access to the U.S. financial system.
The FACT Coalition welcomed the White House announcement of a “multilateral Transatlantic task force” to identify and freeze the assets of sanctioned Russian companies and oligarchs.
WASHINGTON, DC – In a comment letter submitted yesterday, the FACT Coalition welcomed action by the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to bring the U.S. real estate sector under the purview of federal anti-money laundering safeguards. The FACT Coalition offered guidance on how FinCEN should craft a rulemaking that would introduce permanent, nationwide standards to address illicit financial risks in the sector.
The Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition submitted detailed comments yesterday in response to the Treasury Department’s call for public input on a draft rule to implement the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA)
This year promises to be one of the most important in recent history in America’s fight against illicit financial flows, global corruption, and kleptocracy.
Congress should approve a budget that meets the administration’s request to increase FinCEN’s resources to $191 million to enable the agency to minimize the U.S. role in global corruption, both by modernizing the U.S. anti-money laundering framework and by implementing the landmark Corporate Transparency Act
