Beneficial ownership transparency (BOT) is a nascent but growing area of reform in the LAC region. BOT is driven by compliance with FATF standards, Resolution 9/7 of the Conference of the States Parties to the UNCAC, commitments at the UK Anti-Corruption Summit and OGP Summit, and EITI requirement 2.5.
It is seen as a tool to combat secrecy surrounding ownership of companies, trusts, partnerships and foundations, tax evasion, corruption practices, procurement fraud, money-laundering, organised crime and illicit financial flows. Working with different funders and partners, we have been providing technical support to countries in the region who are implementing BOT legislative, regulatory, technology and data efforts.
We also engage regionally with actors across government, multilateral agencies, the private sector and civil society to build capacity, provide technical expertise and review evidence to shape BOT implementation and data usability.
Countries in the region
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Argentina
We are supporting the Secretary of Mining and the Secretary of Energy in complying with EITI's requirement 2.5.
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Belize
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Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
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Brazil
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Chile
We are working with the Public Procurement authority to collect, publish and use beneficial ownership data for procurement due diligence processes.
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Colombia
We support the Tax and Customs Directorate (Dirección de Impuestos y Aduanas Nacionales) in their beneficial ownership registry implementation, and the use of data by competent authorities (defined by the law). We also work with the EITI National Secretariat to improve compliance in the FATF requirement 2.5, and in advancing the use of data for mining licensing due diligence processes.
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Ecuador
We support the Internal Revenues Service (Servicio de Rentas Internas, SRI) with their national beneficial ownership registry implementation. We also work with the Superintendencia de Compañías for their beneficial ownership disclosures.
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El Salvador
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Guyana
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Panama
We are supporting the National Transparency and Data Access Agency on the review of their system and data, as part of their digital transformation project. The pilot is focused on using data to identify conflicts of interest.
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Paraguay
Working with the Legal Persons Directorate of the Ministry of Finance to support their central beneficial ownership registry implementation.
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Peru
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Plurinational State of Bolivia
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Suriname
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Trinidad and Tobago
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Uruguay