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 FACT Coalition sent a letter to the leaders of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittees on Terrorism and Illicit Finance and Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit to be submitted to the official record of the November 29, 2017 joint hearing entitled “Legislative Proposals to Counter Terrorism and Illicit Finance.”
Few people would imagine Delaware or Wyoming as potentially key players in the world of international crime and terror. But as a result of some of the most permissive corporate legal codes in the world, that appears to be a strong possibility.
Houston hosts hundreds of massage parlors described in sleazy online sex forums like RubMaps.com that generate about $107 million in illicit revenues each year, according to a new study by Vanessa Bouche, a Texas Christian University political science professor and human trafficking expert.
The Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency Coalition (FACT Coalition) testified in front of the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe or the Helsinki Commission at a hearing on combating kleptocracy with incorporation transparency.
The Panama Papers leak of eleven million documents in April 2016 revealed that former Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, the brother-in-law of Chinese President Xi Jinping, longtime friends of Russian President Vladimir Putin, drug kingpins, and even a soccer megastar had something in common: they all channeled money through anonymous shell companies. Anonymous shell companies are entities that usually employ few or no workers, do not conduct any substantive business, and allow their owners to store or route money while hiding their identities.
The conversation about the dangers of anonymous companies has largely focused on corrupt foreign leaders and threats to national security, human trafficking, and disruption to business. Additional harms include bidding up prices that fuel the loss of affordable housing, environmental degradation, and tax evasion.
