Financial Transparency Coalition

NEW YORK – The President announced his intention today to advocate for Congress to adopt laws requiring the disclosure of beneficial ownership for corporations at the time of company formation, an idea already proposed by Senators Carl Levin and Chuck Grassley in S. 1483, the Incorporation Transparency and Law Enforcement Assistance Act, as well as a U.S. commitment to implement the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), as part of the launch of the new government transparency initiative, the Open Government Partnership.

Last summer, we reported that the Obama Administration planned to globally promote the Energy Security Through Transparency (ESTT) provisions (Sec. 1504) of the new Dodd-Frank legislation.  Now, it appears as though they've remained true to their word. Last July, after the passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, the White House released a statement about Sec. 1504 saying (underlining added by me):

This provision is an essential new tool in promoting transparency in the oil and mineral sectors. This legislation will immediately shed light on billions in payments between multinational corporations...

In a joint press conference with Salvadoran President Funes last week, President Obama announced that—through the Central American Security Partnership program—$200 million will be provided to fight drug cartels and organized crime in the region.  The President noted that the money will be used to address “the social and economic forces that drive young people towards criminality,” as well as “help strengthen courts, civil society groups and institutions that uphold the rule of law.”  While this is a more comprehensive effort than has been previously seen, the Obama administration’s plan of attack still falls short. Traditional approaches to...

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder's speech, as prepared for delivery, at the African Union Summit in Kampala, Uganda, where he announces that the U.S. Department of Justice is launching a new Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative aimed at combating large-scale foreign official corruption and recovering public funds for their intended – and proper – use.