US: ‘Blatantly Pro-Corruption’: Trump Guts Anti-Money Laundering Rule

The Trump administration has gutted a key anti-corruption tool meant to combat illicit finance through opaque shell companies. The rollback protects donors who use shell companies to conceal their identities or make illegal political contributions. Last Friday, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)—a Treasury Department office—issued an interim final rule scaling back the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), a 2021 law designed to force companies to report the people behind them, also known as their “beneficial owners,” to the government. Under the rollback, only foreign companies doing business in the U.S. will have to comply, while domestic companies will get a free pass.

Passed on a bipartisan basis as part of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, the CTA was an attempt to pierce the veil of secrecy that surrounds shell companies such as LLCs that exist only on paper in order to obscure the flow of funds. The law took effect last year, forcing companies to report their owners’ personal information, but a federal court in Texas issued a nationwide injunction in December that halted its enforcement and compliance dates. Now, the Trump administration finished the job by effectively gutting it. The Treasury Department claims that the move was necessary to protect small businesses from having to comply with burdensome reporting requirements.

Without ownership data, law enforcement can’t spot if an unknown LLC dropping millions into a super PAC is legit or a straw donor masking banned contributors like foreign firms or government contractors.

22 November 2024

GREECE: €1.8B Gain from Tax Evasion Crackdown Fuels Tax Cut Hopes

The new Greek budget, submitted to the Parliament on Wednesday, Nov. 20, revealed that the government’s efforts to combat tax evasion have boosted tax revenues in the current budget by 1.8 billion

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5 August 2024

UK: ‘Free money’: £4bn lost to fraud and error on flagship HMRC ‘innovation’ scheme

A government scheme to champion new research and boost the economy has cost more than £4bn in fraud and error since 2020 after widespread abuse. The research and development tax credits scheme was

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7 March 2025

ST KITTS: IMF Recognizes Enhanced Sustainability Of St. Kitts And Nevis’ Citizenship By Investment Program

Basseterre, St. Kitts — The International Monetary Fund (IMF), in its 2025 Article IV Mission report, has acknowledged the enhanced sustainability of the St. Kitts- Nevis Citizenship by Investment

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19 April 2024

LATAM & CARIBBEAN: IMF sees smaller slowdown in Latam, Caribbean region this year

The International Monetary Fund upgraded its 2024 view for economic output growth in Latin America and the Caribbean to 2.0% from its January estimate of 1.9%, though it still expects a slowdown, the

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