scholarly journals Shopping for Anonymous Shell Companies: An Audit Study of Anonymity and Crime in the International Financial System

2010 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 127-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C Sharman
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Financial System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Small Island ◽  
Corporate Transparency ◽  
International Financial System ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Transparency And Disclosure

The last few years have seen an international campaign to ensure that the world's financial and banking systems are “transparent,” meaning that every actor and transaction within the system can be traced to a discrete, identifiable individual. I present an audit study of compliance with the prohibitions on anonymous shell companies. In particular, I describe my attempts to found anonymous corporate vehicles without proof of identity and then to establish corporate bank accounts for these vehicles. (Transactions processed through the corporate account of such a “shell company” become effectively untraceable—and thus very useful for those looking to hide criminal profits, pay or receive bribes, finance terrorists, or escape tax obligations.) I solicited offers of anonymous corporate vehicles from 54 different corporate service providers in 22 different countries, and collated the responses to determine whether the existing legal and regulatory prohibitions on anonymous corporate vehicles actually work in practice. To foreshadow the results, it seems that small island offshore centers may have standards for corporate transparency and disclosure that are higher than major OECD economies like the United States and the United Kingdom.

Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the United States of America on Access to Electronic Data for the Purpose of Countering Serious Crime

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Kenneth Propp
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
The United States ◽  
International Agreement ◽  
Electronic Communications ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Government ◽  
Criminal Matters

On October 3, 2019, the United States and the United Kingdom signed an innovative international agreement on international assistance in criminal matters. The agreement, which has not yet entered into force, will enable law enforcement authorities in either country to request and obtain electronic communications content data directly from service providers located in the other country. It is intended to obviate the need, with respect to e-evidence, for resort to the slower and more cumbersome mutual legal assistance treaty (MLAT) in force between the two countries.

Regulating peer-to-peer technology in China: inspiration from the United Kingdom

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 290-312
Author(s):  
Xiao Ma
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Tort Law ◽  
The United States ◽  
Peer To Peer ◽  
Joint Liability ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Uk ◽  
P2p Technology

During the past decade, China has learnt from the experience of the United States and developed a series of legal instruments to address the digital challenges of massive copyright infringement. These efforts have established a joint tort liability system under which network service providers (NSPs) share joint liability with direct infringing users under certain conditions. Under this system, NSPs bear aiding or abetting liabilities which correspond to the United States’ contributory and inducement liabilities. However, when facing peer-to-peer (P2P) technology, the fault-centred approach manifested in knowledge is not only difficult to prove but also overlooks objective factors. Moreover, general tort law principles are sometimes set aside in adjudicating cases concerning indirect copyright liabilities. This article examines authorization liability in the United Kingdom, finding that this approach is underpinned by traditional tort law theory and more integrated in adjudicating P2P cases. It requires a spectrum of consideration consisting of two-step analysis: conceptual analysis and multi-factor analysis. This research proposes that while maintaining the current dichotomy framework of copyright liabilities, the UK authorization liability approach provides a valuable lesson, especially in regulating P2P technologies in China.

scholarly journals A Comparative Discussion of the Judicial Disqualification of Directors under the South African Companies Act

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Rehana Cassim
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
South African ◽  
United States Of America ◽  
The United States ◽  
The South ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Locus Standi

Abstract Section 162 of the South African Companies Act 71 of 2008 empowers courts to declare directors delinquent and hence to disqualify them from office. This article compares the judicial disqualification of directors under this section with the equivalent provisions in the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States of America, which have all influenced the South African act. The article compares the classes of persons who have locus standi to apply to court to disqualify a director from holding office, as well as the grounds for the judicial disqualification of a director, the duration of the disqualification, the application of a prescription period and the discretion conferred on courts to disqualify directors from office. It contends that, in empowering courts to disqualify directors from holding office, section 162 of the South African Companies Act goes too far in certain respects.

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