Financial Transparency Coalition

With all of the talk last week in the transparency community of David Cameron’s historic announcement regarding beneficial ownership, little mention was made of the US Government’s draft set of commitments to the Open Government Partnership (OGP). Porter McConnell, Manager of the Financial Transparency Coalition, was asked by OpentheGovernment.org to provide her views, which have now been published alongside those of other civil society leaders.

Check out this great BBC broadcast covering David Cameron's groundbreaking commitment to introduce a public register to reveal the true beneficial owner of companies. Global Financial Integrity's E.J. Fagan was interviewed for this broadcast. You can find his comments starting at the 3.20 mark.

In this terrific blog the Economist’s Matthew Valencia looks into the contentious issue of transparency and trusts. What exactly are trusts, why do they exist (100 points if you knew they were developed in the 12th century for Knights leaving for the Crusades) and should they be part of the international push for public registries of beneficial ownership. What do you think?

Financial Transparency Coalition Manager, Porter McConnell was quoted in Patrick Wintor's article "Register revealing firms' true owners will be open to public, says Cameron" appearing on the Guardian's website. In this article, Porter is quoted as saying "David Cameron has made a brave and far sighted decision with the introduction of this vital transparency measure. That the UK has become the first country to commit to introducing a public register to disclose the beneficial owner of companies is a watershed moment. "The UK is helping deprive corrupt politicians and criminals of the use of anonymous companies to hide their real identities....