Thought I would throw this out about the GAO's report on company formations.
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d06376.pdf
This may or not be relevant to the topic at hand, but may be parallel
information to be aware of.
Cliff note summary from the report.
Why the study:
Companies form the basis of most commercial and entrepreneurial activities
in market-based economies; however, "shell" companies, which have no
operations, can be used for illicit purposes such as laundering money. Some
states have been criticized for requiring minimal ownership information to
form a U.S. company, raising concerns about the ease with which companies
may be used for illicit purposes. In this report, GAO describes (1) the
kinds of information each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia and
third party agents collect on companies, (2) law enforcement concerns about
the use of companies to hide illicit activity and how company information
from states and agents helps or hinders investigations, and (3) implications
of requiring states or agents to collect company ownership information.
What the GAO found:
Most states do not require ownership information at the time a company is
formed, and while most states require corporations and limited liability
companies (LLC) to file annual or biennial reports, few states require
ownership information on these reports. With respect to the formation of
LLCs, four states require some information on members, who are owners of the
LLC. Some states require companies to list the names and addresses of
directors, officers or managers on filings, but these persons may not own
the company. Nearly all states screen company filings for statutorily
required information, but none verify the identities of company officials.
Third-party agents may submit formation documents to the state on a company's
behalf, usually collecting only billing and statutorily required information
for formations. These agents generally do not collect any information on
owners of the companies they represent, and instances where agents told us
they verified some information were rare.
Frank Muto
President/CEO
FSM Marketing Group, Inc
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