Hilton Head Island Packet
October 31, 2019
For far too long our weak state and federal laws on requiring the real owners of corporations to be publicly identified have been used by enemy nations, terrorist groups, crime organizations, drug cartels and everyday fraudsters to conduct their illegal activities in secret through anonymous shell corporations.
I serve on the Board of the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce. Since 2013 our Chamber has supported federal legislation to require corporate transparency to address this threat to our capitalistic economy and democracy.
Finally, the U.S. House has just passed the Corporate Transparency Act of 2019 by a vote of 249 to 173 to address this problem.
Joining in the bipartisan support for the bill was South Carolina Congressmen Joe Cunningham, Joe Wilson and James Clyburn.
It is imperative that the U.S. Senate now act to pass a corporate transparency bill in the same bipartisan manner demonstrated in the House.
Pat Hancock
17 Sassafras Street
Bluffton, SC