Financial Transparency Coalition

Check out the new press release from the Task Force regarding the global push for legislation to require financial transparency in all companies.  The release outlines a letter from over a thousand organizations calling on the EU Commission to require beneficial ownership be disclosed or all EU companies, as well as a similar letter that was sent to U.S. legislators by a different group of organizations. From the press release:

Signatories, including anti-corruption coalitions such as The UN Convention Against Corruption, Publish What You Pay, European Coalition for Corporate Justice, development groups such as and Eurodad, religious organizations like Koordinierungsstelle der Österr. Bischofskonferenz and environmental associations such as Friends of the Earth Netherlands and Milieudefensie, called on the European Commission to require companies to reveal their true ownership.  At present, corrupt politicians, money launderers, tax evaders and other criminals find it all too easy to hide their identity behind companies, allowing them to move their ill-gotten gains around the world.

The move comes on the heels of a similar letter sent by dozens of U.S. business and civil society groups to members of the House of Representatives and Senate urging them to co-sponsor the bipartisan Incorporation Transparency and Law Enforcement Assistance Act endorsed by the Obama Administration. That bill would require companies to disclose their ultimate owners at the time of incorporation.

Read the entire press release here.