ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a review and comparative analysis of disclosure and registration initiatives taken globally, regionally and nationally. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an independent intergovernmental body that develops and promotes policies to protect the global financial system against money laundering, terrorist financing and the financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Countries should take measures to prevent the misuse of legal persons for money laundering or terrorist financing. Countries should ensure that there is adequate, accurate and timely information on the beneficial ownership and control of legal persons that can be obtained or accessed in a timely fashion by competent authorities. The FATF does however have a fall-back strategy, which if further developed may help it overcome the inherent weakness of an ownership-based transparency initiative. The FATF is attempting to ensure transparency using at best an incomplete, at worst a fundamentally misconceived one-size-fits-all, criterion of beneficial ownership.
