USA Africa Dialogue Series - Secret structures, hidden crimes

Tax evasion poses an acute challenge to developing and developed countries. From 2000 to 2010, illicit financial flows deprived developing countries of US$5.86 trillion. Tax evasion is not a victimless crime – for people in the developing world, the consequences of tax evasion can be a matter of life and death.

Companies and other legal structures that are anonymously owned and controlled are a key mechanism of tax evasion. Securing more disclosure about who owns and controls these vehicles would not only help prevent capital flight in future but may also bring trillions of dollars of offshore wealth back into the tax net. If countries could start to recover this untaxed wealth, it could have an enormous impact on people's lives.

Tax evaders use many of the same techniques to move their assets as criminals involved in corruption, terrorist financing, nuclear proliferation, arms smuggling and many other abuses. Therefore many of the measures taken to tackle these activities, especially around transparency, are the same.

This summary sets out how opaque ownership structures are a key tool for money launderers, and facilitate crime. It also shows how anti-money laundering frameworks provide an opportunity to secure transparency by revealing the identity of beneficial owners – the real people who own and control bank accounts and legal structures such as companies, trusts and foundations.

Link:http://eurodad.org/files/integration/2013/01/Secret-structures-hidden-crimes_summary_web.pdf

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