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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.

End the Travel Ban: An Alternative Proposal to Combating Terror

Ending Anonymously-Owned Companies Would Be Widely Seen as an Effective Strategy in Crippling Those Who Pose a Real Danger to the U.S.
The President’s executive order banning refugees and legal immigrants from seven Muslim-majority nations has led to large protests in the U.S. In a conversation yesterday with anti-corruption advocates based in Canada and Belgium, I listened as they discussed the outrage this order has generated around the globe.  The action, it appears, only reinforces the worst fears they held about the new administration.

The order is unconscionable, likely unlawful and—according to a growing list of security experts— unhelpful in protecting the nation against acts of terror. Just a few days in and the stories of harm and disruption are piling up.

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“Welcome to My World” — My Trip to Panama

On International Anti-Corruption Day, We Must Better Understand the Extent to Which Corruption Harms Individual Lives and Entire Communities
Last week, I attended the International Anti-Corruption Conference held in Panama City (an irony not lost on anyone). Riding the bus to the convention center, I spoke with an anti-corruption advocate from Guatemala.  She was eager to hear about the impact of the U.S. election on our work and what it means for American engagement in multilateral discussions on transparency and anti-corruption initiatives.

We discussed the large and multiple conflicts between the incoming President’s public responsibilities and his private business interests.  I mentioned a recent article about how a banking lobby already moved their events for the coming year to one of Trump’s Washington area hotels, presumably to curry favor.  Another article detailed a leasing agreement between the federal government and Trump enterprises, effectively making the incoming President his own landlord.  Not even in office, and the list of conflicts of interest and potential conflicts is long.

Her reaction: “Welcome to my world.”

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Global Task Force Slams U.S. on Anonymous Shell Companies

FATF Evaluation Notes the U.S. Anti-Money Laundering “System Has Serious Gaps that Impede Timely Access to Beneficial Ownership Information”
Last week, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)—the international body that sets anti-money laundering and counter-terror financing (AML/CFT) standards—released its first review of the United States’ efforts to combat dirty money since 2006.  While the FATF report finds that the U.S. generally has a decent AML/CFT framework, it notes that there remains a gaping hole in the regime: the problem of anonymous shell companies.

The FATF release states:
“The United States has a well-developed and robust anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) regime through which it is effectively investigating and prosecuting money laundering and terrorist financing. However, the system has serious gaps that impede timely access to beneficial ownership information.”
Indeed, the U.S. remains one of the easiest places in the world for criminals, terrorists, and kleptocrats to open anonymous shell companies to launder illicit money with impunity, according to leading academics.  That is because no U.S. state requires that information on the true, human owner (known as the “beneficial owner”) of an entity be disclosed to authorities at the time of incorporation.

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Anonymous Companies

Ask the Government to Know Who It Does Business with to Protect Us All

25 Organizations Send Letter to Congress Urging Beneficial Ownership Transparency in Procurement Process
The U.S. government has long recognized that it does not have enough information on the identities of its contractors—those that help protect our national security, provide medical and educational services, and build infrastructure.
“‘[T]here is no database in the U.S. government’ that provides reliable subcontractor information.”
— Ray DiNunzio, Special Investigator General for Afghanistan Reconstruction chief investigator from August 2009 to 2011 (via the Washington Post)

This lack of information can harm us all.

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Joint Letter to Congress Urging Beneficial Ownership Transparency in Procurement

The FACT Coalition joined 24 other organizations in sending a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on October 28, 2016.  The letter calls upon Congress to urge the Administration to begin exploring alternatives for how contractors are identified without delay, to adopt a contractor identifier that is a non-proprietary, open system and that includes the collection and publication of beneficial ownership information.

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