Take Action Donate

Search Results for financial crime

FACT Sheet: Anonymous Companies and National Security (May 2019)

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.

New Study: Anonymous Companies Fuel Illicit Trade in Counterfeit and Pirated Goods

Opaque Ownership Structures Obstruct Enforcement of a Growing Global Illegal Economy Valued at $500 Billion to $3 Trillion
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The formation and use of anonymous companies undermine the economic and financial interests of U.S. companies and markets according to a new report published Monday by the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition.  The author, former Chair of the OECD Task Force on Countering Illicit Trade David M. Luna, found that criminals and counterfeiters are expanding their market share with fake products in storefront and on-line markets, contributing to a growing global illegal economy valued at between $500 billion and $3 trillion.  Criminally-derived profits (or dirty money) related to corruption and money laundering constitute several trillion dollars more that further finances insecurity and instability around the world.

Anonymous Companies Help Finance Illicit Commerce and Harm American Businesses and Citizens

Titled “Anonymous Companies Help Finance Illicit Commerce and Harm American Businesses and Citizens: A Need for Incorporation Transparency,” this May 2019 report from the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency Coalition (FACT Coalition) explains that the trafficking and smuggling of counterfeit and pirated goods is a very profitable illegal activity for many of today’s criminals and illicit networks and that these networks rely on the secrecy provided by anonymous entities to launder their ill-gotten-gains and escape detection.

Just the FACTs: March 27, 2019

This past week, FACT Coalition member Global Financial Integrity released a report with a comprehensive state-by-state comparison of what information is required to set up a company versus obtain a library card.  Astonishingly, in every state, far more personal information was needed to set up a library card than a company. This is especially startling when you realize the extent to which a company—without an accountable individual attached—could be used to commit crimes with impunity.

This report came just a week after the House Financial Services Committee’s subcommittee that covers national security issues held a hearing on corporate transparency and efforts to fight money laundering.  In the lead up to the hearing Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) released a discussion draft of the Corporate Transparency Act of 2019, which would require the collection of beneficial ownership information.  All the witnesses at the hearing supported the collection of beneficial ownership information as an important anti-corruption, anti-money-laundering tool. In fact, all but one witness who testified at hearings in this and the previous Congress in which corporate transparency was discussed have said that beneficial ownership disclosure was an important anti-money-laundering measure.  In a blog discussing this month’s hearing, FACT’s Gary Kalman encouraged lawmakers to this time listen to what the witnesses have to say.  Anti-human trafficking, faith, and law enforcement organizations also encouraged the committee to take action on anonymous companies.