Financial Transparency Coalition

In the process to revise Europe's 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD), European Parliament voted overwhelmingly to approve the creation of public registers of information on the real owners of companies, trusts, and other legal entities in the EU. Public registers of the beneficial owners (real owners), would help greatly in the fight against corruption, trafficking, tax evasion, and other types of illicit financial flows that are perpetrated with the help of anonymous companies with hidden ownership. However, the European Parliament's input is only one piece of the puzzle.

Civil Society Experts Call on Delaware to Create Public Registry of Beneficial Ownership Information

WASHINGTON, DC – Global Financial Integrity (GFI) and Global Witness expressed disappointment that the Delaware House of Representatives passed two bills this evening that do little to stop criminals from using Delaware companies to launder their illicit proceeds. The two pieces of legislation are House Bill 327 and House Bill 328, which would establish a chain of people that need to be consulted, in turn, in order to identify a person at a limited liability...

Last week Ukrainians cast their ballots for a new president. It was the first election for the position since the nation ousted its allegedly-corrupt former President, Viktor Yanukovych. Before he fled to Russia, Yanukovych lived on 340 acres of land on the banks of the river Dnieper in Ukraine. His former home, a five story mansion named Mezhyhiriya, is decorated with marble, crystal, and precious woods. It is difficult to overstate the luxury of this palatial building. Its cedar doors are worth $64,000, the wall...

As someone who loves to obsess over grammar rules of all kinds, I’m careful when using the word “irony.” It’s a notoriously difficult word to use. That’s why, as I was pondering the U.S. policy position on beneficial ownership and the word “ironic” lingered in the edges of my mind, I pushed it away. No,