One year after the Panama Papers: Progress on anonymous corporate ownership?

One year after the Panama Papers exposed the offshore banking activities of the clients of the Panamanian firm Mossack Fonseca, it is still legal and permissible for corporations in America to be anonymously owned. This practice continues to draw criticism in the face of mounting requirements for financial institutions to ‘know their customers,’ and among foreign policy experts who fear a growing kleptocracy. What is the proper policy response to an area where financial regulation, national security, foreign policy, and global business converge?

On March 30, the Center on Regulation and Markets at Brookings hosted Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) for keynote remarks on efforts to end the use of anonymously owned corporations. A panel of experts and regulators followed his keynote remarks.