Unmasking Control

Unmasking Control
Author: Francisca Fernando
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 172
Release: 2022-10-07
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:
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Revelations from many data leaks, court cases, and media reports are a constant reminder about how easy it is to abuse companies and other types of legal entities for money laundering, terrorist financing, and many other crimes with impunity when the beneficial owners—the real persons who own and control these legal entities—are hidden. Not knowing beneficial ownership information negatively affects countries’ economies. It allows criminals to misuse these entities to hide their identities and the criminal origins of their assets, and to enjoy the proceeds of crimes, which produces all sorts of economic distortions, negatively impacts economic growth, and allows criminals to infiltrate and take control of the legal economy. This book is a guide for practitioners, policymakers, and other researchers to establish comprehensive frameworks for holding beneficial ownership information. It proposes questions to guide strategic thinking and discussion about the establishment of an effective system of beneficial ownership information, for anti-money laundering purposes. This book also sets out how an effective beneficial ownership framework can reduce opportunities for corruption, support efforts against tax evasion, help tackle illicit financial flows, protect national security interests, and benefit procurement transparency.

A Beneficial Ownership Implementation Toolkit

A Beneficial Ownership Implementation Toolkit
Author: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
Publisher: Inter-American Development Bank
Total Pages: 51
Release: 2019-05-21
Genre: Political Science
ISBN:
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In 2016, the G20 called on the FATF and the Global Forum to propose ways to improve the implementation of the international standards on transparency, including on the availability of beneficial ownership information, and its international exchange. The Global Forum developed a framework of proposed actions to answer that call, including a plan to facilitate effective implementation through examples of good implementation and technical assistance. This toolkit is in furtherance of the Global Forum’s commitment to support countries’ effective implementation. It is intended to help jurisdictions to develop an understanding of the beneficial ownership concepts contained in the international standards of transparency and exchange of information, and for use in conjunction with technical assistance seminars. It will support policy and implementation discussions in conjunction with capacity building workshops and technical assistance activities carried out by the Global Forum Secretariat as well as other supporting international organizations.

Beneficial Ownership and Control

Beneficial Ownership and Control
Author: Erik P. M. Vermeulen
Publisher:
Total Pages: 68
Release: 2013
Genre: Finance and Investment
ISBN:
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Investor confidence in financial markets depends in large part on the existence of an accurate disclosure regime that provides transparency in the beneficial ownership and control structures of publicly listed companies. This is particularly true for corporate governance systems that are characterised by concentrated ownership. On the one hand, large investors with significant voting and cash-flow rights may encourage long-term growth and firm performance. On the other hand, however, controlling beneficial owners with large voting blocks may have incentives to divert corporate assets and opportunities for personal gain at the expense of minority investors. The paper focuses particularly on the misuse of corporate vehicles, which arguably poses a major challenge to good corporate governance. Stakeholder rights (e.g. employees and creditors) cannot be properly exercised if ultimate decision- be identified. The accountability of the board may also be seriously endangered if stakeholders and the general public are unaware of decision-making and ultimate control structures. Finally, regulators and supervisory agencies have a strong interest in knowing beneficial owners - in order to determine the origin of investment flows, to prevent money laundering and tax evasion and to settle issues of corporate accountability.

The Puppet Masters

The Puppet Masters
Author: Emile van der Does de Willebois
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 230
Release: 2011-11-01
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0821388967
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This report examines the use of these entities in nearly all cases of corruption. It builds upon case law, interviews with investigators, corporate registries and financial institutions and a 'mystery shopping' exercise to provide evidence of this criminal practice.

The Economic Structure of Corporate Law

The Economic Structure of Corporate Law
Author: Frank H. Easterbrook
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 386
Release: 1996
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780674235397
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This text argues that the rules and practices of corporate law mimic contractual provisions that parties involved in corporate enterprise would reach if they always bargained at zero cost and flawlessly enforced their agreements. It states that corporate l

Beneficial Ownership Verification

Beneficial Ownership Verification
Author: Andres Knobel
Publisher:
Total Pages: 69
Release: 2019
Genre:
ISBN:
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In a world where billion-dollar corruption and money laundering schemes can travel through developed countries' financial institutions undetected, the only chance for any country's authorities to successfully address financial crime is to apply cutting edge technology for crime detection. At the core of the fight against illicit financial flows is authorities' ability to verify the identity of the beneficial owners who control the world's companies and trusts. Applying advanced analytics and inter-connecting ownership registries is the only way to make sure legitimate businesses flourish, while preventing the abuse of legal vehicles that rob countries off their resources and erode trust in democracy and state institutions. This will also be good for real businesses. By helping businesses easily and effectively check their supply chains and the companies they work with business can better prevent sanctioning risks to their reputation for having engaged with the wrong people.Section 1 of this report briefly reviews the concept and importance of beneficial ownership. It describes countries' contradictory or insufficient measures in relation to beneficial ownership transparency needed to address illicit financial flows related to corruption, money laundering or the financing of terrorism. Section 2 refers to all the relevant data on beneficial ownership that should be collected in the first place to allow for verification. It summarizes the definitions of beneficial ownership depending on the various types of legal vehicles and their combination. It lists all details that should be collected and it adds new innovative proposals for ensuring registered beneficial ownership is accurate and easier to verify. Section 3 and 4 are the core of this paper and describe the IT system that governments should establish to automatically cross-check and verify beneficial ownership information, both in terms of validity (section 3) as well as advanced analytics for redflagging purposes (section 4). Section 5 discusses issues relating to costs and sanctions for noncompliance.

Politically Exposed Persons

Politically Exposed Persons
Author: Theodore S. Greenberg
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 126
Release: 2010-04-19
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0821383337
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In recent years, revelations of grand corruption and the plunder of state assets have led to greater scrutiny of financial relationships with politically exposed persons (PEPs) senior government officials and their family members and close associates. Notwithstanding the efforts by many financial institutions and regulatory authorities to prevent corrupt PEPs from entering and using the financial system to launder the proceeds of corruption, there has been an overall failure in the effective implementation of international standards on PEPs. Implementation of an effective PEP regime is a critical component in the prevention and detection of transfers of proceeds of crime and, therefore, ultimately in the process of recovering them. 'Politically Exposed Persons: Preventive Measures for the Banking Sector' is designed to help banks and regulatory authorities address the risks posed by PEPs and prevent corrupt PEPs from using domestic and international financial systems to launder the proceeds of corruption. The book provides recommendations and good practices aimed at improving compliance with international standards and increasing supervisory effectiveness. It is an important tool for individuals, governments, financial and private sector companies, and international organizations involved in developing and implementing standards aimed at fighting corruption and money laundering, and trying to recover stolen assets and the proceeds of corruption.