A group of investors representing more than $1 trillion assets under management signed a letter to the Financial Accounting Standards Board, urging FASB to reconsider the Exposure Draft and support country-by-country reporting.
Anonymous companies facilitate everything from corruption and money laundering to transnational organized crime, sanctions evasion, and terrorism — all of which directly harm U.S. foreign policy interests. Such companies have been used to divert from their intended purposes U.S. security and overseas development funds into the hands of those who seek to do the United States harm, and they can help fund the very insurgents and terrorists U.S. troops are fighting.
Numerous stories have been written exposing how anonymous companies are used around the world for criminal purposes, including in media reports stemming from the Panama Papers, Paradise Papers, and Lux Leaks; the Russian and Troika Laundromat episodes; Global Witness reports, The Great Rip Off and Hidden Menace; and many more.
In addition to the examples, there is mounting evidence showing the widespread use of anonymous companies to launder money and allow dangerous actors to escape accountability and that the United States is a prime secrecy jurisdiction.
Anonymous companies are behind just about every financial crime. They are the vehicle of choice for laundering money obtained through illicit activity. Schemes involving terror financing and the trafficking of drugs, illegal weapons, and humans all use anonymous companies to move money, fund operations, and allow bad actors to escape with the proceeds of their crimes as well as impunity.
The pervasive use of secret shell and front companies also impacts the broader economy. As such, more and more businesses are speaking out.
The Independent Community Bankers of America sent a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Financial Services, urging members to end the incorporation of anonymous shell companies. The full letter can be read below or downloaded here.
The National District Attorneys Association sent a letter to lawmakers on the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services endorsing the bipartisan Corporate Transparency Act of 2019 (H.R.2513).
