Testimony: American Leadership in the Age of Authoritarian Corruption
June 19, 2019
Chairman Graham, Ranking Member Feinstein, and distinguished Members of the Committee, thank you for inviting me to testify on what I believe to be one of the most important economic and security topics of our time—kleptocracy and how to mitigate it using economic transparency.
Ending the anonymous shell company is a key first step. Doing so requires a national beneficial ownership registry, which should be made available only to law enforcement agencies with proper Congressional oversight and professionals that can be held accountable for misuse or mishandling of the registry. Over time, beneficial ownership transparency that maintains strict privacy rights will produce the following benefits:
- More effective economic sanctions enforcement
- More efficient law enforcement in money-laundering cases
- More level playing field for American small businesses
- Decreased compliance costs for US financial institutions
- Decreased perceptions of corruption in the United States
What is the overall strategy?
Economic transparency is a non-violent, asymmetrical weapon in the growing clash of democracy and authoritarianism. It is a powerful tool that is in lockstep with the character of our nation and is something we must come to understand as strategic in the post-Cold War era. Rapid interconnectivity brought by technological advances and globalization incubated a nexus of authoritarianism and corruption that threatens liberty everywhere. The best strategy for combatting this nexus is to begin taking small steps toward increasing economic transparency at home, with the goal of consolidating gains in liberty where it already exists.
Combating Kleptocracy: Beneficial Ownership, Money Laundering, and Other Reforms | United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary
United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary