News & Events | Page 47 | The FACT Coalition

Crack Down on U.K.’s Offshore Territories Increases Pressure on U.S. to End Anonymous Companies

May 1, 2018

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Lawmakers in the United Kingdom voted Tuesday to require their offshore territories to establish systems by 2020 mandating companies to disclose their true owners at the time of formation. The new rules, which will bring transparency to companies formed in notorious secrecy jurisdictions such as the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, and the British Virgin Islands, were welcomed by the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition.

Testimony of Dalia F. Martinez, Executive Vice President of Operations International Bank of Commerce before the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit, April 27, 2018

April 27, 2018

Chairmen Leutkemeyer and Pearce, Ranking Members Clay and Perimutter and members of the subcommittee, I am honored to have this opportunity to present testimony today regarding FinCEN’s Customer Due Diligence Rule. I am Dalia F. Martinez, Executive Vice President and Corporate Bank Secrecy Act Officer for International Bank of Commerce. IBC Bank–Laredo is a member of International Bancshares Corporation (NASDAQ: IBOC), a $12.2 billion multi-bank financial holding company headquartered in Laredo, Texas, with 192 branches and more than 294 ATMs serving 90 communities in Texas and Oklahoma. I am speaking to you today representing the Mid-size Bank Coalition of America, the voice of 88 community banks with headquarters in 34 States. MBCA banks are primarily between $10 billion and $50 billion in assets with more than 10,000 branches in all 50 states, with deposits of $1.2 trillion. MBCA banks represent, service, and support millions of customers.

Testimony to House Financial Services Committee on Implementation of FinCEN’s CDD Rule

April 27, 2018

Gary Kalman, the executive director of the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition, testified in front of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit on Friday, April 27, 2018 at a hearing regarding the implementation of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s (FinCEN) rule on Customer Due Diligence Requirements for Financial Institutions.

Countering a Kleptocratic Kremlin

April 20, 2018

With every passing week we have new evidence of the threat that Vladimir Putin’s kleptocracy poses to our democracy, our national security, and the entire liberal world order. Putin’s regime—something akin to an organized crime ring masquerading as a state—has looted the wealth of Russia, subjugated its people, attacked neighboring former republics of the USSR, annexed Crimea, and hacked the electoral process in the United States and other Western democracies.

Steps Congress can take to defend America against foreign influence operations

April 19, 2018

Last week, Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster conceded that, “We have failed to impose sufficient costs… [on Russia for the Kremlin’s use of]…new and old forms of aggression to undermine our open societies.” Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s recent indictment of Russia’s Internet Research Agency and related individuals, made clear the extent of the operation attacking our country’s elections and institutions. And yet, more than a year after the 2016 presidential election, and with mid-term elections looming on the horizon, little has been done to increase America’s defenses against the threat of foreign interference in our democracy or impose costs on those who do.