OECD Criticizes US Transparency Standards Amid Compliance Deficiencies

The OECD report highlights significant lapses in the US regulatory framework, specifically noting that the Corporate Transparency Act, enacted in January 2024, lacks sufficient enforcement mechanisms. Currently, no penalties or fines are being applied to domestic or foreign entities that fail to disclose their beneficial owners. Furthermore, the report points to a failure to mandate the identification of beneficial owners for trusts, leaving a glaring hole in anti-money laundering and tax evasion efforts.

Wilson characterizes these conclusions as bitter for private wealth practitioners, yet predictable. The tension between global transparency demands and individual privacy persists, underscored by the European Union’s own legislative reversals on public access to data. With the US House Committee on Financial Services recently voting to further limit the scope of the Corporate Transparency Act, the divide between international expectations and domestic policy continues to widen. The US is now required to submit a progress update by March 31, 2027, though the consequences for continued non-compliance remain unclear.