Joshua M. Twilley, President of Incorporating Services, Ltd. shares with us the following with regards to the Panama Papers.

The Panama Papers (Papers) put a spotlight on the uses of corporate entities for tax purposes.  While many (if not most) of the entities in the Papers were established legally and are not necessarily involved in legal wrongdoing, the focus on the uses of corporate entities and how they can be monitored while protecting the privacy of entities is an important discussion.  I previously wrote about the Panama Papers here.

Rick Geisenberger, Chief Deputy Secretary of State of Delaware and head of the Department of Corporations, recently outlined some of the issues facing identification and prosecution of those using corporate entities operating in illegal ways.  Mr. Geisenberger’s article appears in the September/October 2016 issue of Delaware Business, a publication of the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce.

This insightful article also highlights several easy-to-implement solutions to make sure corporate entities are not used for illegal purposes.

Delaware has been a leader on developing best practices for protecting America’s interests, which many other states have adopted.  I agree with Rick that the solution can’t be solved by looking to each state to adopt some form of compliance, with 50 different sets of laws and 50 different levels of corporate involvement.  The currently proposed federal solution outlined in the article would ensure compliance in all jurisdictions, creating a good balance of protection and privacy, and give federal authorities the ability to investigate and prosecute.

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