Investigative journalism is an entity that does that....in theory. Sometimes. Mass media does not do that today. On the contrary it caters to special interest that wishes to obscure the big picture truth through media. Captured government regulatory agencies do the same thing. The government that is supposed to be working for us.
The Panama Papers has millions of pieces of information about a hidden web of relationships that intends to hide money in accounts. Hide it to conceal what the money is doing in terms of legal and social dysfunction processes and who has control of it to benefit from them.
It would seem obvious that some government agency must vitally interested in the Panama Papers. The lead agency on the case. What agency is that. How do they get all the information in the Panama papers? If the government can get bad guys anywhere any time with a drone it should be able to get the Panama papers by any means possible. Perhaps our government has them already. The NSA seems to get whatever it wants. If not by signals intelligence then by the CIA bribing anyone that has the information to sell for millions of bucks.
The problem is that is that if the government has all that information then what to do with it? There are power players that must regulate what can be done with it. That is where it is vital that all the information in the Panama Papers be made public in a searchable data base.
If Google or any other information management entity published the Panama Papers in a searchable data base then every interested citizen would become an investigator. That might be a more interesting crowd sourcing adventure than watching Netflix. A simple get started guide would be to start with an account and find or extend relationships to real business entities and names. Get a subscription to data sources like telephone and address look up sources and find out who is connected to the same number and address.....Everybody becomes a detective.
Privacy? There is no privacy. Privacy is not for the little people. It works more for the crooks and those they capture to aid and abet them.
What is necessary is raw information. This is from the Newsweek link:
"In fact, there is no way for banks to verify such information, said Rob Rowe, a lawyer with the American Bankers Association. The ABA is "watching to see what happens with the Panama papers," he said.
"That's always been the problem. Banks can collect information but there is currently no mechanism to verify it or keep it updated, outside asking the company," he said."
Make all the Panama Paper information Public. Pass laws that identify beneficial ownership. Let the public enforce the rule of law by enabling the public to research all this information and build a description of it relationships like Wikipedia. Open Source all of it.
All Americans become the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
Government Regulatory capture. Bill Black is an expert on that regarding the big banks. Regulatory capture works beyond US boarders. It is a universal problem. Mass Media should be exposing it. It is not. Government is tasked to expose it when it violates the law. It is not. They have been captured.
What government agencies are tasked with enforcing the law? What laws?
Newsweek covers one of the government agencies combating "Financial Crimes".
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) this link is the .gov site
This is the Wikipedia descriptiion: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_Crimes_Enforcement_Network
This is a description of FinCEN by a commercial site that proclaims to tell what the government really does: http://www.allgov.com/departments/department-of-the-treasury/financial-crimes-enforcement-network?agencyid=7281 It also has a view of the Panama Papers: Forget Panama: U.S. is a Leading Tax Avoidance Haven for Foreigners. The same thing is said by Bloomberg:
The World’s Favorite New Tax Haven Is the United States (January 26, 2016).
The USA exeptionalism to lead the world a tax haven? Yes of course! But is it avoidance or evasion? Get a good lawyer and it is avoidance. It just takes a lot of money to make the difference.
But we have government agencies on the beat to find and prosecute the law breakers? I am sure there are many. FinCen however seems to be a lead agency on this at first look. So.....Look at FinCEN.
Returning to the Newsweek report lauding the role of FinCEN:
"ST. LOUIS (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department intends to soon issue a long-delayed rule forcing banks to seek the identities of people behind shell-company account holders, after the "Panama Papers" leak provoked a global uproar over the hiding of wealth via offshore banking devices......A department spokesman said on Wednesday the rule would "soon" be turned over to the White House for review and issuance, but did not confirm any timetable for the initiative, which has taken years...............In mid-2014, Treasury's anti-money laundering unit, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), issued a proposed rule on beneficial ownership. Differences of opinion between the various financial regulators vetting the rule and an obligatory analysis of costs to industry has slowed the process, as has pushback from the banking industry."
This establishes the Congress mandate to the FinCEN.:
FinCEN's Mandate From Congress
31 U.S.C. 310This statute establishes FinCEN as a bureau within the Treasury Department and describes FinCEN's duties and powers to include:
- Maintaining a government-wide data access service with a range of financial transactions information
- Analysis and dissemination of information in support of law enforcement investigatory professionals at the Federal, State, Local, and International levels
- Determine emerging trends and methods in money laundering and other financial crimes
- Serve as the Financial Intelligence Unit of the United States
- Carry out other delegated regulatory responsibilities
Authorities Delegated to FinCEN pursuant to TREASURY ORDER 180-01
This Treasury Order describes FinCEN's responsibilities to implement, administer, and enforce compliance with the authorities contained in what is commonly known as the "Bank Secrecy Act."
"Bank Secrecy Act"
To view or print PDF content, download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.
To view or print Microsoft Office content, download free Microsoft Office Viewers.The Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act of 1970 (which legislative framework is commonly referred to as the "Bank Secrecy Act" or "BSA") requires U.S. financial institutions to assist U.S. government agencies to detect and prevent money laundering. Specifically, the act requires financial institutions to keep records of cash purchases of negotiable instruments, file reports of cash transactions exceeding $10,000 (daily aggregate amount), and to report suspicious activity that might signify money laundering, tax evasion, or other criminal activities. It was passed by the Congress of the United States in 1970. The BSA is sometimes referred to as an "anti-money laundering" law ("AML") or jointly as "BSA/AML." Several AML acts, including provisions in Title III of the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001, have been enacted up to the present to amend the BSA. (See 31 USC 5311-5330 and 31 CFR Chapter X [formerly 31 CFR Part 103] ).
That is it. That is the sum total of official authority delegated to FinCen? Enforce the BSA?
No, that is not all. FinCEN has responsibilities under the Patriot Act and Chapter X and Federal Register Notices. and Guidance under Chapter X FinCEN issues Administrative Rulings
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