Congress passed the most important anti-corruption reform in decades

[Qutzupalotl]

Last edited Mon Jan 2, 2023, 02:25 PM - Edit history (1)

Congress just passed the most important anti-corruption reform in decades, but hardly anyone knows about it

The U.S. is embracing the most sweeping anti-corruption reforms the country has seen in decades—and will do so with remarkably strong bipartisan support and little fanfare.
With veto-proof majorities, Congress recently passed the National Defense Authorization Act, an annual bill generally meant to shore up U.S. defense spending. This year’s iteration folded in a piece of legislation known as the Corporate Transparency Act, which targets something specific: anonymous shell companies, tools that have allowed criminal networks, human rights abusers, and tax evaders around the world to flourish while hiding their financial tracks.

The bill [would] require that the true, human owners of companies formed in the U.S. disclose their identities at the point of formation and upon any change—effectively banning anonymous shell companies. Currently, the U.S. is the easiest place in the world to form an anonymous shell company that can be used for money laundering, crime, and corruption. 
…

Moreover, the bill comes with a strong—and gratifying—range of bipartisan support, with both Democratic and Republican legislators cosponsoring the anti-corruption legislation. Even in these polarized times, legislators across the political spectrum realize just how necessary it is to end the abuses of anonymous shell companies.

The Corporate Transparency Act is a testament to how much patriotic Americans still have in common—and how much the U.S. can, and should, lead when it comes to global efforts to tackle corrupt financial practices.

https://fortune.com/2020/12/26/ndaa-2021-shell-companies-corporate-transparency-act/

[Autumn]

1. What about the shell companies that already exist?

[cilla4progress]

2. Good news!

Did not know about this!

[bucolic_frolic]

3. Won't be able to book Cayman passage for months

[sinkingfeeling]

4. Passed in 2020.

[republianmushroom]

5. like it

[jaxexpat]

6. Did it just this new year become effective? Why else broadcast old news as new?

[BumRushDaShow]

7. The irony of it in Fortune's narrative of "veto proof"

is that it was in fact vetoed (for obvious reasons given who was still President at the time and this provision in it) and it was overridden by both chambers and became law 1/1/21.

The final Rule for the reporting requirement was issued this past September 2022 and will become effective 1/1/24.

(Just FYI and I think the OP saw "December 26" and missed the "2020" )

[jaxexpat]

8. So, this little "statute" (think Sesame St.) just became effective yesterday?

Well, this is indeed a cause cé·lè·bre. Jack has chopped a bit on the beanstalk, David has taken the field against Goliath, even against all odds. An important win for the good guys rears its head. The amassed foes will raise their collective hoary vise in responsive uproar at the temerity of "those little shits" to stick up for themselves. It is the first of several justice meals those bastards will have to eat though now at the trough they will be bent on refusing their supper. In the months ahead amidst all the strife yet to show, Jan. 6th may well grow poignant in memory, its simplicity, in the rear-view mirror.

In all sincerity, thank you for the comprehension assistance. I'm a little misty-eyed now. The blood remembers what the mind doesn't know.

[BumRushDaShow]

9. It'll be "effective" in another year (2024)

but the reporting Rule was finalized (after drafts and comment periods, etc) back in September. Guaranteed they are hard at work looking for alternative way to do the same thing - launder money!

[jaxexpat]

10. Well then, cancel my good mood and schedule it for the same time next year.

Like you, however, I see a hard slog ahead for any Democratic laws designed to thwart felons, no matter how bipartisan. With 12 months to subvert them, their future effectiveness is dire. Especially when their antagonists are so generous with campaign contributions and not afraid to turn the screws. Reagan ruined a world already burdened quite enough.