Australian Government should follow U.S. as they ban anonymous shell companies
FOR RELEASE: 16 December 2020
Contact: Clancy Moore, 0410 508 051
Over the weekend, U.S. Congress made history by passing the most significant reform in U.S. anti-money laundering law in decades showing how far behind Australia is in stopping offshore corporate secrecy.
The Corporate Transparency Act will modernize U.S. anti-money laundering laws and shine a light on who owns anonymous shell companies in the United States. The United States is the second most secretive financial jurisdiction in the world. It takes less information to start a U.S. business than it does to get a library card in all 50 states.
Recent research by Publish What You Pay revealed gas companies in Australia using offshore shell companies that hide the true owners and beneficiaries of companies and avoid regulations. This included a Russian Oligarch and ally of Vladimir Putin, Viktor Vekselberg owing a company set to extract gas in the Beetaloo Basin, NT and several companies having opaque subsidiaries listed in the secrecy jurisdictions of Delaware, U.S and the Cayman Islands.
“Secrecy jurisdictions allow people who own companies to hide in the shadows, avoid scrutiny and rob governments of revenue which could be used to fund schools, hospitals and care for our elderly.”
“If Commonwealth Government were to introduce similar laws, and ensure the list was public, it would prevent Australia from becoming a safe haven for dirty cash from dictators, kleptocrats, criminals, tax cheats, and terrorists”
“Similar regulations to mandate the public disclosure of the beneficial owners of companies would bring Australia into line with transparency laws in UK, Norway, Netherlands and parts of Canada, plus the 52 countries already implementing the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)" said Clancy Moore, National Director of Publish What You Pay Australia.
Information on Publish What You Pay Australia: https://www.pwyp.org.au/who-we-are
Information on the Corporate Transparency Act: Brief Summary of the Corporate Transparency Act (H.R. 6395)