Earlier this week, Senators Carl Levin (D-MI) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) introduced a bill to “combat U.S. corporations with hidden owners” that would require disclosure of beneficial ownership information in the company formation process. This proposed legislation would facilitate the transparency of the financial system by making it more difficult for criminal organizations to hide behind front companies and shell corporations.

This bill would substantially advance the Administration’s fundamental interests in ensuring the availability of meaningful beneficial ownership information about companies created in the United States.  As identified in the President’s Strategy to Combat Transnational Organized Crime announced last week, such legislation is critical to the Administration’s objective of protecting the global financial system and strategic markets from abuse. Treasury, along with our colleagues at Justice and Homeland Security, is committed to working with Congress to achieve this important goal.

This was originally posted on the U.S. Treasury Department’s Treasury Notes Blog.

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