Requiring Disclosure of Business Entity Ownership: Proposed New Laws are Burdensome, But with the Benefit of Being Ineffective

Abstract

A trio of proposals is currently pending that purport to answer the question of how law enforcement may access information on the identities of owners of business entities that are or may be being used for nefarious purposes. The Uniform Law Enforcement Access to Entity Information Act, the Incorporation Transparency and Law Enforcement Act and a recent proposal from the Treasury Department all aim to address the asserted connection between the utilization of business entities for money laundering, terrorism support and similar activities and asserted needs of law enforcement to access names and other identifying information with respect to the beneficial owners of those business entities.