Yellen says 100,000 firms have joined a business database aimed at unmasking shell company owners

WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is announcing that 100,000 businesses have joined a new database that collects “beneficial ownership” information on firms as part of a new government effort to unmask shell company owners.

Yellen, in remarks prepared for delivery Monday, says the new Treasury database that is collecting beneficial ownership information sends the message that “the United States is not a haven for dirty money.”

Yellen will visit Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network — known as FinCEN— in Vienna, Virginia to discuss the launch of the database with the new year. She will also expand on upcoming real estate rules meant to increase transparency about the people and companies buying up property in the U.S.

The Virginia visit is meant to showcase the Biden administration’s intent to increase corporate transparency and prevent the misuse of shell companies.

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“Around the world, lack of transparency, specifically due to opaque corporate