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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.

Anonymous Companies Fueling Waste, Fraud, and Abuse of Taxpayers’ Money

New Report Highlights Need for Congressional, Administrative Action
WASHINGTON, DC — A new report released today by Global Witness, a member of the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition, highlights how anonymous shell companies are ripping-off taxpayers and putting the lives of American military personnel at risk.  The report is titled, “Hidden Menace: How Secret Company Owners Are Putting Troops at Risk and Harming American Taxpayers”.

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Hidden Menace: How secret company owners are putting troops at risk and harming American taxpayers

Since the financial crisis and release of the Panama Papers, we have heard a lot about the revenue governments lose to tax avoidance and evasion, but what about the losses resulting from corruption and fraud when governments spend money on goods, services and infrastructure?

Around the world governments spend $9.5 trillion each year on public procurement.  It should be no surprise that fraudsters, and corrupt officials, take advantage of this. According to research by the UN, corruption may amount to as much as 25% of the value of government procurement contracts worldwide.

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Anonymous Companies

An Urgent Call for Action: Stop Anonymous Shell Companies from Fleecing American Taxpayers

For three and a half years, a former Pentagon supplier used two shell companies in Wyoming and pretended they were largely owned by ethnic minorities to win preferential treatment for government contracts so that he could profit from supplying substandard parts to the military. These schemes happen all too often. In another, conspirators used sham companies from North Carolina, Nevada and Tennessee to steal more than $2 million from subcontractors that they tricked into fulfilling contracts.

The US Administration is coming upon a key moment tomorrow at the international Anti-Corruption Summit hosted by the UK where it can keep the criminal and corrupt from ripping off our public budget while hiding behind the veil of an anonymous shell company.

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New Panama Papers Release Shows Vast Network of Secret Companies

U.S. Called Out as Among Easiest Countries to Open Anonymous Shell Companies Renewing Calls for Congressional Action
WASHINGTON, DC — The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) published more than 200,000 documents from a trove of leaked files known as the Panama Papers this afternoon, renewing calls from anti-money laundering and tax policy experts in favor of bipartisan transparency measures to curb terror finance, corruption, and tax evasion.  The bill is called the Incorporation Transparency and Law Enforcement Assistance Act (H.R.4450 |S. 2489).

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Anti-Money Laundering Experts Deeply Concerned by Administration’s Flawed ‘Panama Papers’ Response

Loopholes in New Treasury Rule Perpetuate Problem of Anonymous U.S. Shell Companies—Enabling Terror Finance, Crime, and Corruption
WASHINGTON, DC – Leading anti-corruption, anti-money laundering, and tax policy experts expressed deep concerns about a set of rules and proposals announced by the Obama Administration last night in the wake of the so-called “Panama Papers” revelations.

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Ernst and Young Study Finds that 91% of Senior Business Executives Believe that Beneficial Ownership Information is Important

Never before have governments and multinational institutions cooperated so extensively in combating bribery and corruption. The transnational nature of the issue led the G20 major economies to recognize bribery and corruption as an important impediment to economic growth and the group’s focus on corruption has continued under its Chinese presidency in 2016. The G20 outlined its priorities in the “2015-2016 G20 Anti-Corruption Action Plan” identifying key areas where economies and multinational organizations must strengthen their cooperation.

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