Financial Transparency Coalition

No one knows better than law enforcement officials on the ground about how dangerous anonymous shell companies are. They allow criminals and criminal organizations to secretly access the financial system, which in turn enables them to commit more crime.

New York City District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr, in an op-ed at Reuters, argues that anonymous shell companies prevents law enforcement from following the money up from street-level crime to the kingpins and bosses up top.

There is no reason why anonymous corporations should exist in the United States. Congress could eliminate them overnight, at relatively little cost, by passing the bipartisan Incorporation Transparency and Law Enforcement Assistance Act, which would require states to collect information about the real people who own or control companies. The Senate bill, which is pending before the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, is supported by a broad array of law enforcement groups, including the Justice Department, the Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI, and the Fraternal Order of Police.

This bill is critical to the work of law enforcement and district attorneys, because all too often investigations are stymied when we encounter a company with hidden ownership. These nameless, faceless companies can do business just like any other, but it is difficult, if not impossible, to identify the real people behind them.

“Follow the money” is a standard investigative strategy. Law enforcement agents start at the street level — the drug dealer or low-level lackey — and try to follow the paper trail to the ringleader. When we can identify the owners of anonymous shell companies, we can track down those kingpins and bring them to justice.

Read the full article here.

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