The U.S. Department of the Treasury recently proposed new regulations to combat the use of anonymous companies in money laundering activities. If adopted, the regulations would require financial institutions to verify the identities of people who own, control, and profit from a company (often called the company’s beneficial owners).
According to the treasury, this would help reveal the real people who are laundering the proceeds of illegal activity. The proposal builds on post-9/11 regulations. The department states that the regulation will provide information to help disrupt illegal financial networks and identify the assets of criminal and national security threats. It also supports a U.S. commitment made to other G-8 nations in June 2013.
Read the Treasury Department’s press release and find a link to more information about, and the proposed text of, the regulation.
