Two million corporations and limited liability companies are formed every year in the US with no one knowing who the beneficial owners are.
“Right now, a person forming a US corporation or limited liability company provides less information to the state than is required to open a bank account or obtain a driver’s license,” Democratic Senator Carl Levin said last year.
Welcome to America’s dirty little secret: the states of Wyoming, Nevada and in particular Delaware, where financial disclosure requirements are minimal. Delaware has come under scrutiny from Swiss bankers, who argue it provides the same levels of secrecy as they do.
Washington insiders say that while there are problems with Delaware’s business disclosure laws, they are expected to be addressed soon. And they argue that, unlike Switzerland, Delaware does not have a history of touting for overseas business using its facility to avoid tax as a selling point.
But while Obama leads the fight to combat tax evasion in offshore centers, recent studies indicate he should be looking closer to home.
Jason Sharman, professor of the center for governance and public policy at Griffith University in Australia, tried to set up shell companies in 22 countries. Surprisingly, the easiest places to retain secrecy were the US and Britain.
Sharman attempted to set up anonymous shell companies 45 times. In 17 cases, the service providers provided the requested shell without bothering to check on the actual identity of the client. And it was not expensive: US$550 to US$1,900. Shockingly, seven shells were provided in Great Britain, four in the US, one in Spain and one in Canada.
Chinese actor Alan Yu (于朦朧) died after allegedly falling from a building in Beijing on Sept. 11. The actor’s mysterious death was tightly censored on Chinese social media, with discussions and doubts about the incident quickly erased. Even Hong Kong artist Daniel Chan’s (陳曉東) post questioning the truth about the case was automatically deleted, sparking concern among overseas Chinese-speaking communities about the dark culture and severe censorship in China’s entertainment industry. Yu had been under house arrest for days, and forced to drink with the rich and powerful before he died, reports said. He lost his life in this vicious
A recent trio of opinion articles in this newspaper reflects the growing anxiety surrounding Washington’s reported request for Taiwan to shift up to 50 percent of its semiconductor production abroad — a process likely to take 10 years, even under the most serious and coordinated effort. Simon H. Tang (湯先鈍) issued a sharp warning (“US trade threatens silicon shield,” Oct. 4, page 8), calling the move a threat to Taiwan’s “silicon shield,” which he argues deters aggression by making Taiwan indispensable. On the same day, Hsiao Hsi-huei (蕭錫惠) (“Responding to US semiconductor policy shift,” Oct. 4, page 8) focused on
In South Korea, the medical cosmetic industry is fiercely competitive and prices are low, attracting beauty enthusiasts from Taiwan. However, basic medical risks are often overlooked. While sharing a meal with friends recently, I heard one mention that his daughter would be going to South Korea for a cosmetic skincare procedure. I felt a twinge of unease at the time, but seeing as it was just a casual conversation among friends, I simply reminded him to prioritize safety. I never thought that, not long after, I would actually encounter a patient in my clinic with a similar situation. She had
George Santayana wrote: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” This article will help readers avoid repeating mistakes by examining four examples from the civil war between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) forces and the Republic of China (ROC) forces that involved two city sieges and two island invasions. The city sieges compared are Changchun (May to October 1948) and Beiping (November 1948 to January 1949, renamed Beijing after its capture), and attempts to invade Kinmen (October 1949) and Hainan (April 1950). Comparing and contrasting these examples, we can learn how Taiwan may prevent a war with
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