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.
A nation has several pillars of national defense, among them are military strength, energy and food security, and national unity. Military strength is very much on the forefront of the debate, while several recent editorials have dealt with energy security. National unity and a sense of shared purpose — especially while a powerful, hostile state is becoming increasingly menacing — are problematic, and would continue to be until the nation’s schizophrenia is properly managed. The controversy over the past few days over former navy lieutenant commander Lu Li-shih’s (呂禮詩) usage of the term “our China” during an interview about his attendance
Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), the son of former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee Politburo member and former Chongqing Municipal Communist Party secretary Bo Xilai (薄熙來), used his British passport to make a low-key entry into Taiwan on a flight originating in Canada. He is set to marry the granddaughter of former political heavyweight Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政), the founder of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital in Yilan County’s Luodong Township (羅東). Bo Xilai is a former high-ranking CCP official who was once a challenger to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) for the chairmanship of the CCP. That makes Bo Guagua a bona fide “third-generation red”
US president-elect Donald Trump earlier this year accused Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) of “stealing” the US chip business. He did so to have a favorable bargaining chip in negotiations with Taiwan. During his first term from 2017 to 2021, Trump demanded that European allies increase their military budgets — especially Germany, where US troops are stationed — and that Japan and South Korea share more of the costs for stationing US troops in their countries. He demanded that rich countries not simply enjoy the “protection” the US has provided since the end of World War II, while being stingy with
Historically, in Taiwan, and in present-day China, many people advocate the idea of a “great Chinese nation.” It is not worth arguing with extremists to say that the so-called “great Chinese nation” is a fabricated political myth rather than an academic term. Rather, they should read the following excerpt from Chinese writer Lin Yutang’s (林語堂) book My Country and My People: “It is also inevitable that I should offend many writers about China, especially my own countrymen and great patriots. These great patriots — I have nothing to do with them, for their god is not my god, and their patriotism is
RSS