This Opinion from FACT’s Ian Gary originally appeared in the Washington Post.

The stunning front-page coverage of the Pandora Papers and the harms caused by anonymous shell companies and trusts based in U.S. states such as South Dakota reinforces the need to ensure that the landmark Corporate Transparency Act, enacted in January, is vigorously implemented by the Treasury Department. Our coalition of more than 100 U.S. civil society groups has called on the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes and Enforcement Network to draft regulations to include the disclosure of the real beneficial owners of trusts, foundations, partnerships and other entities not specifically granted exemptions in the law.

Doing otherwise would mean the Biden administration is turning a blind eye to the corruption, crimes and human rights abuses facilitated by anonymous entities such as corporations or trusts, just months after it named anti-corruption as a core national security priority for the United States.

The full, original article is accessible on the Washington Post’s website here.