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Ownership Transparency

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 Sheet: Business Case for Ending Anonymous Companies (December 2018)

Anonymous companies are behind just about every financial crime.  They are the vehicle of choice for laundering money obtained through illicit activity.  Schemes involving terror financing and the trafficking of drugs, illegal weapons, and humans all use anonymous companies to move money, fund operations, and allow bad actors to escape with the proceeds of their crimes and impunity.

The pervasive use of secret shell companies has also begun to impact the broader economy.  As such, more and more businesses are speaking out.

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Statement on Matthew Whitaker

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In response to the news stories about Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker receiving payments from an anonymous company called the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT), the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition, which has called for greater transparency and an end to anonymous companies, put out the following statement.

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Shell Companies Allow Robocallers to Make Billions of Illegal Phone Calls

Back in June, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) formally filed a complaint alleging that TelWeb, a telemarketing system, used multiple shell companies to bypass laws against telemarketing robocalls. TelWeb has been the target of other lawsuits by the FTC.  The investigation alleges that the system was used to conduct billions of illegal phone calls by telemarketers through an enterprise of shell companies.

The fact that this same system has been the target of so many separate investigations is evidence of a larger problem — companies can be formed in the United States without disclosing their beneficial ownership information (the people who truly own them), allowing criminals to quickly rebrand and jump right back into doing the same illegal activities under a fresh new corporate name. TelWeb was able to use multiple shell companies throughout its scamming system, and the men in charge of connecting TelWeb to telemarketers have a history of being named in previous FTC lawsuits.  Yet they were able to continue in the industry under different names.

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The Downside of Boston’s Luxury Building Boom

Boston is being transformed by a luxury housing boom. A decade from now, the city’s skyline and population demographics will be fundamentally altered by decisions being made today.

This boom has clear benefits, providing jobs in the building trades and increasing property tax revenue for the city. And the city has negotiated for affordable housing set-aside or linkage funds from some projects. But the boom is not doing enough to address Boston’s acute affordable housing crisis and will accelerate economic inequality in the city.

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FACT Sheet: Treasury’s CDD Rule: One Piece to a Larger Puzzle

Drug traffickers, corrupt officials, rogue nations seeking to evade sanctions, terrorists, and other criminals use anonymous companies to hide the money they steal and maintain the power they hold.

Many of the most dangerous criminal elements now operate sophisticated financial networks.  They have updated the way they do “business,” which Includes the use of companies with hidden owners.   As the rest of the world cracks down on corporate secrecy, the criminals and other wrongdoers are looking increasingly to the U.S.

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Customer Due Diligence (CDD) Rule for Financial Institutions1 is a critical piece in a larger strategy to protect the integrity of our financial system from abuse and the nation from a broad array of harms.

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