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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 Welcomes Bipartisan Bill to Curb Terror Financing, Money Laundering Through Anonymous Shell Companies

“Incorporation Transparency and Law Enforcement Assistance Act” Will Increase Corporate Transparency; Give Law Enforcement Important Tool for Investigating Terrorism, Other Crimes
Rampant Abuse of Anonymous Companies Featured Prominently on Sunday’s 60 Minutes
WASHINGTON, DC – The Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition welcomed the introduction today of bipartisan legislation to give law enforcement an important tool for investigating terrorism and other crime enabled through anonymous American shell companies.

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Fortune Magazine Op-Ed: It’s Time for the U.S. to Deal With Tax Evaders

America Is the World’s Newest Tax Haven
If I asked you to name the world’s biggest tax haven, you might come up with the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, or Luxembourg. Those of you following the recent series of so-called “corporate tax inversions” might guess Ireland.

You probably wouldn’t think of the United States, but the latest edition of Bloomberg Businessweek points its finger squarely at Uncle Sam—and not without reason.

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New York Times Letter: Real Estate Transparency

In a New York Times letter, FACT’s Clark Gascoigne writes that Treasury’s plan falls short of what’s needed to combat the financial system’s role as a money-laundering haven.
To the Editor:

Re “Property Sales Get U.S. Scrutiny” (front page, Jan. 14):

The Treasury Department’s plan to scrutinize the secret companies buying real estate in New York and Miami is a welcome first step toward cleaning up parts of the real estate market, but it falls far short of what’s truly needed to combat the United States financial system’s role as a major money-laundering haven.

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Want to Know Who Owns the Largest Newspaper in Nevada? Good Luck.

But an Iowa Republican Has a Bill to Do Something about It…
Reporters at the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Nevada’s largest media outlet, are up in arms after an anonymous company—News + Media Capital Group LLC—spent $140 million to purchase the paper while refusing to disclose who owns the company. These dumbfounded journalists have run into the obscure yet increasingly prominent issue of “anonymous incorporation”, which has plagued anti-corruption warriors in developing countries for years.

At the heart of the issue are extreme secrecy rules on the books in states like Nevada, Delaware and Wyoming, which allow individuals forming companies to shield their true identities. Presidential candidate Jeb Bush has entered the fray, joking on Twitter about the paper’s anonymous owners:

Just finished hour+ @reviewjournal ed board. Only q left unanswered – who owns the newspaper?
— Jeb Bush (@JebBush) December 14, 2015

Anonymous incorporation allows fraudsters, mobsters, terrorists, money-launderers, tax-evaders and corrupt politicians to cover their tracks and evade the authorities while they rip off the public and engage in all manner of crime and illicit activity. According to the US Departments of Justice and Treasury, anonymous companies have been used to fund al Qaeda and evade sanctions in Iran.

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What Makes Delaware an Onshore Tax Haven

When you think of a tax haven, you probably imagine the far off tropical islands of Bermuda or Grand Cayman, but the reality is that there is a major tax haven even closer to home in the state of Delaware. A new report from Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) explains how one our nation’s smallest states is one of the world’s biggest havens for tax avoidance and evasion.

What makes Delaware a tax haven? First, Delaware is one of the easiest places in the world to set up an anonymous shell corporation. In fact, setting up a company in Delaware requires less information than signing up for some library cards. This means that it is difficult for law enforcement to trace the activities of the anonymous shell corporations to the people who actually own and control them. This is what makes Delaware corporations an ideal vehicle not only tax evasion, but also for illicit activities like drug trafficking, terrorism finance and defrauding the government.

In addition, the state does not require companies to pay any tax on income relating to intangible assets held by companies based in the state. Companies take advantage of accounting gimmicks to shift their intangible income from other states into Delaware in order to take advantage of the zero tax rate on income earned from intangible assets. For example, Toy R Us has avoided millions in taxes by transferring its trademarks and trade names (including “Geoffrey the Giraffe”) into Delaware and charging its subsidiaries in other states for use of its trademarks.

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Clark Gascoigne on HuffPost Live

FACT’s Clark Gascoigne on HuffPost Live: U.S. a Major Money Laundering Capital

FACT’s Clark Gascoigne Discusses the U.S. Ranking as the 3rd Biggest Secrecy Jurisdiction in the Latest Financial Secrecy Index
Clark Gascoigne, the Deputy Director of the FACT Coalition, appeared on Mind Your Business with Alyona Minkovski, a weekly business program on HuffPost Live, on Friday, November 13, 2015.  He discussed how the United States facilitates all sorts of financial crime with widespread financial opacity.

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