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.
The Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency Coalition (FACT Coalition) testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee at a hearing on True Incorporation Transparency for Law Enforcement Act or TITLE Act, S. 1454 which would end the abuse of anonymous shell companies by simply requiring companies to list the beneficial owner at the time of corporate formation. The full testimony can be read below or downloaded here.
Switzerland, the United States, and the Cayman Islands are the world’s biggest contributors to financial secrecy, according to the latest edition of the Tax Justice Network’s Financial Secrecy Index.
America Surpasses Cayman Islands, Second Only to Switzerland in Tax Justice Network’s Rankings of the World’s Largest Secrecy Jurisdictions
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The United States has become the second largest tax haven in the world, according to a new report published Tuesday by the Tax Justice Network.
2018 is shaping up to be the year that the abuse of Anonymous shell companies is finally put to an end in the United States. Last week, the Senate Banking Committee held their second hearing of the month, and, just like the first hearing, the witnesses urged members to take action on anonymous companies. One of the witnesses, Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General M. Kendall Day, repeatedly called on lawmakers to tackle beneficial ownership requirements, adding that it would allow them to “bring more cases, more quickly, with more impact if we had a better system in place to make that information available to law enforcement.” Pressed by Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) the second witness, Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Crimes Sigal Mandelker, responded that they were studying the issue carefully and hoped to have recommendations within 6-months.
January 30, 2018
Join the FACT Coalition in Washington on January 30th at 12pm EST for the 2018 launch of the Financial Secrecy Index and find out where the U.S. ranks among the world’s biggest tax havens.
Quotes from prominent anti-human trafficking experts explaining the problems with anonymous shell companies.
