Financial Transparency Coalition

Reuters recently released the second feature in Shell Games, a series "exploring the extent and impact of corporate secrecy in the United States." The first special report in the series, "A little house of secrets on the Great Plains" dealt with shell companies established in Wyoming, generally recognized as a secrecy jurisdiction, and how some have been used to hide illict assets . The newest report, "China's shortcut to Wall Street" details how the reverse-merger process has allowed many Chinese companies to become publicly traded in the U.S., while bypassing many regulatory controls. The article details the process:

WASHINGTON, DC – Global Witness applauds Senators Levin (MI-D) and Grassley (IA-R) for introducing legislation that would make it harder for corrupt politicians, tax dodgers, drug traffickers, terrorists and other criminals to form and hide behind anonymous U.S. shell companies. The Incorporation Transparency and Law Enforcement Assistance Act would require those who set up companies in the U.S. to provide information about the beneficial, or ultimate, owner of the company to the state.

NEW YORK – A spate of spectacular collapses of Chinese stocks listed on American exchanges has cost U.S. investors billions of dollars. The fiasco has sparked multiple investigations. Accusations are swirling in Washington and Beijing.

Nearly 5 years ago the international community, led by the United States, imposed the first in a line of increasingly harsh economic sanctions on Iran in the hopes of ending the country’s nuclear ambitions. Despite some signs of success, consensus on the effectiveness of the sanctions remains elusive. However, what is becoming clear is that sanctions are contributing to an explosion of corruption and funneling billions of dollars to Iran’s fastest growing group of kleptocrats: the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, is like an amalgam of the Iranian CIA, Marines, Mafia and Fortune 500....