Briefing Memo: IRS Does Not Collect Beneficial Ownership Information and Additional Concerns with an IRS Approach
The FACT Coalition sent this memo to explain concerns with an IRS approach to collecting beneficial ownership information.
Priced Out: How Anonymous Companies Contribute to the Rising Cost of Housing
Home ownership is a quintessential part of the American dream. Now, nearly a decade after the housing market crash this dream for many Americans is still just that: a dream. Housing costs are rising far faster than wages—burdening renters. Residential properties are becoming prohibitively expensive—forcing out residents who may have called them home for decades.
To add insult to injury, the loss of affordable housing has been spurred by the use of anonymous shell companies. Bad actors or rich speculators use these companies to bid up prices on properties and then use them as a “bank” rather than a home—all without identifying who they are or where the money came from to purchase the property.
Just the FACTs: February 23, 2018
Movements to end anonymous shell companies exploded in 2017, already this year the momentum has ballooned. With several committees in the House and Senate taking up the issue and a broad-based, bipartisan coalition calling for action, the previously elusive transparency measure is no longer a long-shot.
Two recently released reports exemplify why the momentum needs to continue. The 2018 Financial Secrecy Index provides insight into secrecy jurisdictions globally and the Polaris Project’s report, Human Trafficking in Illicit Massage Businesses, reveals (among other things) how the abhorrent industry of sex trafficking is shielded behind anonymously registered businesses.
Testimony to Senate Judiciary Committee on TITLE Act S. 1454
The Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency Coalition (FACT Coalition) testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee at a hearing on True Incorporation Transparency for Law Enforcement Act or TITLE Act, S. 1454 which would end the abuse of anonymous shell companies by simply requiring companies to list the beneficial owner at the time of corporate formation. The full testimony can be read below or downloaded here.
Faith Leaders Against Anonymous Shell Companies
As faith leaders in Utah, we are concerned with a gaping hole in state and federal law that is having dire consequences throughout the state, country and the world. We feel it is time as citizens to call on our representatives to correct this oversight and give law enforcement the tools they need to protect us and our financial system. It is time to end the legal twilight zone where anonymous shell companies are used to protect criminals.
Letter to House Regarding “Legislative Proposals to Counter Terrorism and Illicit Finance”
The FACT Coalition sent a letter to the leaders of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittees on Terrorism and Illicit Finance and Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit to be submitted to the official record of the November 29, 2017 joint hearing entitled “Legislative Proposals to Counter Terrorism and Illicit Finance.”