Washington DC - A bill that requires anonymous shell companies to reveal their true owner was approved by the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday by a bipartisan vote of 43-16. The Corporate Transparency Act of 2019 (H.R. 2513) creates a federal registry and could pass the House of Representatives this year.

"Anonymous shell companies too often facilitate the theft of revenue from the developing world and poor communities across the United States,” said Eric LeCompte, the Executive Director of the religious development group Jubilee USA. “The bipartisan Corporate Transparency Act takes important steps in tackling tax evasion and corruption.”

Shell companies contribute to an estimated 1 trillion dollars leaving the developing world annually. In the United States, anonymous shell companies contribute to Medicare fraud and human trafficking.

"Some anonymous shell companies supported dictatorships and others stole development aid and debt relief aid from poor countries” stated LeCompte. "We are hopeful that this financial transparency legislation will pass Congress this year.”