WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. is the second largest provider of financial secrecy in the world, trailing only the Cayman Islands, according to a new index published today by the Tax Justice Network.
On Tuesday night, 25 Republicans joined nearly all the chamber’s Democrats to approve the Corporate Transparency Act, a bill that would require those creating a company to report its owners to the federal government. The White House expressed support but called for the House and Senate to work on certain details.
A group of 51 State Banking trade associations sent a letter to the House Financial Services Committee voicing support for the Corporate Transparency Act (HR 2513).
The Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency Coalition (FACT Coalition) submitted comments for the record to the House Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittee on National Security, International Development and Monetary Policy on their hearing recent hearing on corporate transparency. The full letter can be read below or downloaded here.
Dear Chairman Hensarling and Ranking Member Waters:
Thank you for your diligent work crafting legislation to improve corporate transparency by requiring companies to disclose the identities of individuals who control and profit from the company at the time of its incorporation. We write to express our support for this change, which would prevent these individuals from using anonymous shell companies to evade accountability,
and to convey the importance of making this information available to state and local enforcement.
Anonymous shell companies are the vehicle of choice for a wide variety of bad actors. Drug cartels and human trafficking operations have long understood the benefits of corporate secrecy to launder money. Terror groups have learned these lessons, and today illicit financing and evading sanctions are as much a part of their strategy as any bombing or attack. Corrupt leaders in nations around the world steal public funds to prop up their regimes, undermine democratic institutions and ideals, and create internal and regional instability.
