Is this why Trump tried to veto this bill?
https://news.yahoo.com/us-passes-historic-anti-corruption-221542902.html
The Independent
Richard Hall
Fri, January 1, 2021, 5:15 PM EST
The United States has effectively banned anonymous shell companies from operating in the country with the passing of a new anti-corruption law described by campaigners as “historic”.
The new legislation was included in the annual National Defense Authorization Act, which allocates funds to the US military, and was passed by veto-proof majority in Congress on Friday.
Under the new rules, companies will be required to provide “beneficial ownership” information to the treasury department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Unit. Anonymous companies, which can be used to hide funds illicitly obtained by criminals and corrupt foreign officials, would be effectively banned.
Transparency International, an advocacy group that worked with lawmakers to craft the bill, called the new law “historic” and “one of the most important anti-corruption measures ever passed by the US Congress.”
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Anti-corruption campaigners have lobbied for years to close loopholes that allow criminals to hide money in the US. Last year, the US overtook Switzerland in a global ranking of financial secrecy hotspots. It currently ranks second in the world in the Tax Justice Network’s Financial Secrecy Index 2020, behind only the Cayman Islands.
Corporate secrecy rules have previously made it possible for anyone to create an anonymous shell company, into which they could hide enormous sums of money without being identifiable. Corrupt foreign leaders, cartel bosses, and criminals have all made use of lax US laws to hide their ill-gotten gains.
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“Oligarchs and kleptocrats, gun-runners and cartel heads, wildlife poachers and human traffickers — anyone with a bit of dirty money burning holes in their pocket, really — can no longer turn to American shell companies for their money laundering needs,” he added.
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