{"id":5334,"date":"2009-11-11T19:41:12","date_gmt":"2009-11-11T17:41:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/2009\/11\/11\/how-many-companies-are-there\/"},"modified":"2009-11-11T19:41:12","modified_gmt":"2009-11-11T17:41:12","slug":"how-many-companies-are-there","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/2009\/11\/11\/how-many-companies-are-there\/","title":{"rendered":"How many companies are there?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Mapping the Faultlines<\/a> project that has given rise to the secrecyjurisdictions.com<\/a> web site does what it says on the tin: it seeks to map the fault lines that flow through the world’s financial architecture that allows illicit financial flows of at least $1 trillion a year to take place.<\/p>\n

As recent US government testimony in the US Senate made clear<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

the ability of criminal and other illicit actors to form corporations in the United States without disclosing their true identity presents a serious vulnerability.  It creates a pathway for criminal actors to gain access to the international financial system, and creates significant obstacles in our ability to investigate financial crime. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Unsurprisingly, the Tax Justice Network agrees, having said so for a long time before the US Treasury came to share the opinion. As a result we have mapped just how many corporations there are in the world’s major secrecy jurisdictions, all of which we have surveyed. The results can be found here in a report<\/a> prepared by my TJN research colleague, Markus Meinzer.<\/p>\n

The findings are telling. This is the top ten:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

But as Markus notes:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n

Two caveats must be born in mind when considering this data. First, a large number of companies registered in a jurisdiction is not in itself evidence that all the companies so registered are mere shell companies: some of these will be undertaking genuine economic activity in the jurisdiction. However, as the ratio of companies-per-head of population in a jurisdiction rises the more likely it is that a significant proportion will be shell companies.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Number of companies per head of population looks like this:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Suddenly the story looks very different. Some of what might be called \u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b2the usual culprits’ appear.<\/p>\n

And to see how aberrant this is, this is similar data for states where most companies are likely to have some real economic function:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Germans manage less than a company per 100 people. Ignoring the BNVI as utterly aberrant, Cayman has 1.82 per head and Delaware just under one  a person.<\/p>\n

This is a massive cause for concern. At least the US Treasury have noticed it. <\/p>\n

Now we need change. Change that requires beneficial ownership, real management and accounts on public record. If that happened the abuse these corporations facilitate would be a lot harder to perpetrate. That is our goal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Mapping the Faultlines project that has given rise to the secrecyjurisdictions.com web site does what it says on the tin: it seeks to map
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