The United States has effectively banned anonymous shell companies from operating in the country with the passing of a new anti-corruption law described as “historic”. The new legislation was included in the annual National Defense Authorization Act, which allocates funds to the US military, and was passed by veto-proof majority in Congress.

The bill requires most companies to report their true beneficial owners to the government, allows greater information sharing between law enforcement and regulators, and authorizes the use of new suspicious activity monitoring tools.

Cracking down on legal vehicles that allow criminals and terrorists to move money around the world has become a pressing issue for policymakers as a slew of scandals in recent years has revealed the true extent of illicit global money flows.

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