The Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Rewards Act Would Establish a Rewards Program for Whistleblowers
WASHINGTON, D.C. – A bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced legislation Tuesday afternoon to combat terror finance and foreign government corruption in a move that was welcomed by the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition.
In just the first two months of this year, we have seen anonymous shell companies become a major priority for Washington lawmakers.
Last week, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee convened to discuss legislation that would put a stop to the creation of these faceless companies. The hearing, Beneficial Ownership: Fighting Illicit International Financial Networks Through Transparency, marks the third Congressional hearing on this topic in 2018 alone. And, it is the first time that the Senate Judiciary Committee has heard such legislation. This occasion, along with other recent developments, suggests that momentum towards tackling the problems posed by anonymous companies continues to grow.
Sometimes, ranking near No. 1 in the world is not a badge of pride. According to the Financial Secrecy Index released by the Tax Justice Network (TJN), the United States is the second largest contributor to financial secrecy in the world, placing it in the company of infamous tax havens such as Switzerland (ranked No. 1) and the Cayman Islands (ranked No. 3). Financial secrecy is enabling people to hide income from the authorities to evade taxes or financial regulation, launder profits from crime, finance terrorism, or otherwise break the law.
As the new TJN report explains, the United States contributes more to financial secrecy in the world than any country other than Switzerland for two reasons. First, this country has the largest share (22.3 percent) of the global market for offshore financial services. Second, several U.S. states promote financial secrecy by allowing individuals to form corporations without providing any real identifying information. In some states, people who want a library card must provide more identifying information than those who want to incorporate. The result is a huge amount of money held in shell companies in the United States that cannot be traced to any individual anywhere in the world.
America Surpasses Cayman Islands, Second Only to Switzerland in Tax Justice Network’s Rankings of the World’s Largest Secrecy Jurisdictions
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The United States has become the second largest tax haven in the world, according to a new report published Tuesday by the Tax Justice Network.
Quotes from prominent anti-human trafficking experts explaining the problems with anonymous shell companies.
House Financial Services Committee Votes Unanimously in Favor of the End Banking for Human Traffickers Act of 2017 (H.R.2219)
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday voted unanimously to advance legislation targeting the financing of human trafficking, in a move welcomed by the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition.
