How exposing anonymous companies could cut down on crime - Global Witness

翻译人员: Lee Liang 校对人员: Gabriella Hu

对于我们大多数人来说

For many of us,

a typical day involves interactions with hundreds of companies.

每天都要与各种公司打交道

Buying their goods, using their services,

买他们的商品，或者是享受他们提供的服务

even wearing their names.

甚至将他们的品牌名戴在身上

Corporations and companies

公司和企业

have become such a familiar part of the modern landscape

已经变成了现代社会中大家熟悉的一部分

that it's easy to forget they're artificial entities

人们很容易就忽略了企业是人造的宿敌

created to allow real people to do business.

允许实际的人做生意

But there are some types of companies

但是有一些企业

that aren't engaged in any business at all.

他们没有经营任何生意

Instead, these anonymous companies

相反，这些匿名公司

exist mainly to disguise people doing things

其存在就是为了假装在做

they'd rather not have the public know about.

他们不希望被公众所知的事

And these people go to great lengths to hide any links between their names

相关人员不遗余力的隐藏 他们名字和企业之间的关系

and the companies they own.

包括他们所拥有的公司

The life of an anonymous company

一个匿名公司的声明

usually begins in what's known as a secrecy jurisdiction,

通常起始于秘密的管辖权

a place whose laws allow new companies to be registered

一个地方的法律允许新的公司注册

with little disclosure about who owns or controls them.

注册时不需要披露公司的拥有者或管理者

Some may simply not require collecting that information.

有的只是不需要收集那些信息

Others may collect it,

有的可能会收集

but make it nearly inaccessible to anyone else.

但是那些信息对外保密

And the lack of incentive to verify companies' real owners

并且，缺乏确认公司实际拥有者的激励

makes it easy for people to cover their tracks.

使得人们隐藏自己的行踪变得很容易

For example, someone may register a company in the name of a relative,

例如，一些人可能会用亲人的名字

an associate,

用助理的名字

or even a nominee director

或者某个董事的名字注册一个公司

who acts on instruction from the company's actual owner

而这个董事完全按照公司的实际拥有者的旨意行事

while keeping their name confidential.

这样一来，便可保证实际拥有者的名字不为人知

Once registered, a company can do many of the same things as a human being,

一旦注册，一个公司可以像人一样做许多事情

like opening bank accounts,

比如开设银行账户

buying and owning assets,

购买和拥有资产

and transferring money.

转移财产

What's more, it can be listed as the owner of other companies,

更多的是，一个公司还可以拥有其他的子公司

including ones opened in places with stricter disclosure rules.

它的子公司包括在有着严格的披露制度的地方注册的公司

This allows someone to create a complex world-wide chain of ownership

这使得一些人可以创建一个复杂的全球连锁的所有权

that can take years to unravel.

这需要很多年才能被瓦解

A company based in the U.S.

一个在英国的公司

may be wholly owned by another one in Liechtenstein,

可能被列支敦士登(中欧的一个国家)的一个公司所拥有

which is owned in turn by one in the British Virgin Islands.

这个中欧的公司又被维尔京群岛的某公司所拥有

And an anonymous company can be transferred to a new owner at any time

并且任何一个匿名公司随时都可以转变成一个新的拥有者

with no public record of the change.

不需要任何公开的声明

So why all the anonymity?

那么，为什么所有的都要匿名？

Defenders of financial secrecy argue that wealthy individuals need it

金融保密的捍卫者声称，那些富有的人有需要

to avoid intrusive media attention

去避免入侵性质的媒体的攻击

and threats to personal security.

避免对个人隐私的威胁

But while this may sometimes be justified,

尽管，这可能在某种情况下是合理的

anonymous companies play a role in almost every type of economic crime,

几乎在每一种金融犯罪里面都有匿名公司的参与

including many major corruption cases.

包括一些主要的受贿案

They are used by corporations evading taxes,

匿名公司被一些公司用来逃税

rogue governments skirting sanctions,

流氓政府绕过制裁

terrorists buying arms,

恐怖组织购买武器

and dictators financing wars.

独裁者进行金融战争

Organized crime groups launder their profits through anonymous companies.

有组织的犯罪极端利用匿名公司洗黑钱

Corrupt government officials award valuable contracts

腐败的政府官员签署有价值的合同

to corporations they secretly own.

和他们秘密拥有的公司

International oligarchs with criminal connections or questionable pasts

与犯罪分子有联系或者有黑历史的国际寡头

have used anonymous companies to discretely buy luxury apartments

利用匿名公司分散的购买豪华公寓

in cities like London and New York City,

在类似于伦敦和纽约的城市

keeping them as safe stores of wealth.

让它们成为财富的安全贮存地

And even when criminals are convicted,

即使当犯罪分子被判为有罪的

their anonymously held assets

他们匿名拥有的资产

may be difficult for authorities to locate or seize,

当局很难对其定位或者追寻

making it harder for victims to be compensated.

对受害者进行补偿就更困难了

Efforts are now underway to chip away at these crime-enabling mechanisms.

人们正在努力削弱这些使犯罪得逞的机制

International authorities and NGOs

一些国际机构和非政府组织

have called for requiring companies to state who ultimately makes their decisions

呼吁应该要求公司声明 谁是最终做出决策的那个人

and benefits from their assets.

公开公司的资产收益

But while progress is being made,

但是尽管取得了一些进步

international cooperation has been difficult to achieve,

国际联合仍然是很难完成的

as governments that profit from registering anonymous companies

受益于注册匿名公司的政府

are reluctant to lose business.

是不情愿失去业务的

And some of the most popular places for this practice

这种做法最流行的一些地区

are located not on remote, tropical tax shelters,

并不是在偏远的税收少的地区

but within the same advanced nations which claim to be leading the fight

而是在那些发达国家，

for global financial transparency.

宣称支持并且领导全球金融透明的国家

But still, it's a fight worth fighting.

尽管如此，这仍然是一场值得打的仗

Closing the legal loopholes that enable anonymous companies

关闭使匿名公司成为可能的法律漏洞

would help us cut down on corruption and illegal activity.

将会帮助我们减少腐败和非法行为

It would also allow us, as the general public,

它也会让我们，作为普通大众

to better understand the flow of enormous sums of money

更好的理解那些影响政策、 我们的日常生活、我们世界的健康

that impact politics, our daily lives, and the health of our world.

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