This report was originally published by Ernst and Young. 

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.

Among the issues identified, the G20 highlighted the abuse of legal and corporate structures to hide or conceal criminal activity as a “critical issue in the global fight against corruption.” It committed to increasing transparency over the beneficial ownership of companies and assets through the application of international standards on the beneficial ownership of legal persons and arrangements set by the intergovernmental body, the Financial Action Task Force.

The respondents to our survey suggest this move has popular support – 91% of respondents believe it is important to know the ultimate beneficial ownership of the entities with which they do business.

Continue reading: the full report can be found here.

—

This report was originally published by Ernst and Young.