Panama Papers and ‘who owns what’ — big implications for financial services
The mushrooming “Panama Papers” scandal is a warning to financial services firms that they cannot be complacent about their obligation to determine beneficial ownership, know their customers, and perform due diligence on all of their business associates.
Several governments across the world, including the United States have initiated investigationsof possible financial wrongdoing by the rich and powerful after a leak of four decades of documents (dubbed the “Panama Papers”) belonging to a Panamanian law firm that specialized in setting up offshore companies.
The U.S. Department of Justice is determining whether the findings point to evidence of corruption and other violations of U.S. law, and the anti-bribery unit of the Securities and Exchange Commission is reviewing the disclosures for investigative leads.
The revelations are also prompting a number of financial transparency groups to nudge the U.S. Treasury’s anti-money laundering unit to issue a final rule requiring investment advisers to help combat financial crime.
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