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.
Let’s talk statistics. On an average year, anywhere between 300 billion to 2 trillion U.S. dollars are laundered globally. To put it into perspective, this sum rivals the economic output of Brazil, the world’s eighth largest economy. As numbers grow, the United States’ position on money laundering and financial transparency policies continues to falter, further …
Today, Congress passed a continuing resolution to fund the U.S. government through December 16, which now awaits President Biden’s signature. While the measure will ensure that agencies can continue operations at existing budgetary levels, the resolution puts off approving the increased funding for key offices in the U.S. Treasury Department contemplated in both chambers’ appropriations bills for fiscal year 2023.
Ian Gary, the executive director of the FACT Coalition, called the release of the new rule “a historic moment in the decades long fight to rid the U.S. of dirty money.”
Today, the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition welcomes the Treasury Department’s release of the first final rule to implement the landmark Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), and urges the Treasury Department to accelerate the remaining rulemaking processes as necessary to fully implement this ground-breaking anti-money laundering reform.
The Sentry’s report points to major ways the international community must act to deny kleptocrats the “brain trust” on which they rely to perpetrate their crimes. It’s up to the U.S. to be a leader, not a laggard, in implementing a robust anti-money laundering regime.
Join FACT and the Hudson Institute for an in-person, Senate briefing on September 28th to learn about the scale of the problem posed by professional “enablers” and the future of this crucial reform agenda.
