Unmasking Control: A Guide to Beneficial Ownership Transparency

Revelations from 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. Transparency about who owns a company or corporate entity (the beneficial owner) affects economic stability. 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.