FACT Coalition Statement on New Global Witness and Global Financial Integrity Briefing

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A new report released today by Global Financial Integrity (GFI) and Global Witness emphasizes the importance to investors of knowing who owns and controls the companies with which they invest and with whom those companies do business.  Titled “Chancing It: How Secret Company Ownership Is a Risk to Investors,” the briefing highlights a number of financial and non-financial risks posed to companies and investors from anonymously-owned companies, and is published as global investors managing over $740 billion in assets released a letter calling on the U.S. government to adopt meaningful incorporation transparency legislation.

Both GFI and Global Witness are members of the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition.

Clark Gascoigne, the deputy director of the FACT Coalition, made the following statement:

“This report does an excellent job highlighting the important role that corporate ownership transparency can play in reducing risks to companies and shareholders.  Companies that contract with anonymous entities can expose themselves to serious fraud, risk enormous reputational damage, and jeopardize shareholder value. Beyond helping law enforcement catch criminals and terrorists, ensuring that the true owners of companies are disclosed at the time of incorporation and kept up-to-date has enormous potential to assist companies and investors in vetting potential risks before it’s too late.”

The full report can be found here.

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Notes to Editors:

• Click here to read this press release on our website.
• Click here to read more about the report on the Global Witness website.
• The letter to the U.S. House of Representatives from investors is available here.
• The letter to the U.S. Senate from investors is available here.

Journalist Contact:

Clark Gascoigne
+1 202 813-0290
cgascoigne@thefactcoalition.org