Financial Transparency Coalition

WASHINGTON, DC – Yesterday, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Rep. Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA) introduced legislation, which would require that the beneficial owners of corporations and limited liability companies (LLCs) be disclosed at the time companies are formed. Anti-corruption watchdogs, law enforcement groups, and human rights organizations consider the legislation, known as the Incorporation Transparency and Law Enforcement Assistance Act, a crucial tool in aiding law enforcement and keeping criminal and tax evading money out of the United States.

LONDON - Global Witness applauds Representatives Maloney (D-NY), Frank (D-MA) and Lynch (D-MA) for introducing legislation that would tackle corporate secrecy. If passed into law, the Incorporation Transparency and Law Enforcement Assistance Act (H.R. 3416), a companion bill to the Senate’s bipartisan S. 1483, would require companies to disclose their ultimate owners when the company is set up. This would make it much harder for corrupt politicians, tax dodgers, drug traffickers, terrorists and other criminals to form and hide behind anonymous U.S. shell companies.

Today, NBC News reports that a Delaware company made a $1 million contribution to a PAC supporting Mitt Romney about six weeks after it was formed, and then dissolved two months later. This ripped-from-the-headlines story of a corporation that was created for the sole purpose of laundering massive political contributions highlights the need for a bill that was just introduced this week in the U.S. Senate. The company, called W Spann LLC, filed a certificate of formation on March 15 with no information about the owners or the business purpose of the entity. On April 28, the LLC made a...