Anonymous Company Holders

Anonymous companies are getaway cars for the world’s criminal and corrupt.

The current financial system makes it simple to hide and move suspect funds around the world. You can quickly and easily set up layer upon layer of paper companies, crossing borders and jurisdictions and making it almost impossible for law enforcement to track down the real human being behind the money.

Global Witness wants to fix this loophole, in its efforts to tackle the root causes of corruption, poverty and lots of other problems. Our advocacy calls for governments to create public registries of the real owners of companies and trusts, so that law enforcement, businesses, NGOs and ordinary citizens know who they’re dealing with.