Starting a Business: Transparency of information at business registries

Abstract

Governments and civil society have come together in recent years to increase the transparency of business information. New regulations have been adopted to improve transparency, particularly regarding the dissemination of company data. These changes have been made in the wake of a series of revelations - such as the Panama papers and the Bahamas leaks - that showed the extent to which individuals take advantage of obscure company ownership structures to illicitly move money around the globe. There is now strong momentum behind expanding access to corporate information, including company ownership. The transparency of the information provided by the business registry plays a vital role in an economy. This case study has shown that the public availability of information on company ownership and starting a business is associated with an increase in an economy’s overall level of transparency, an increase in the efficiency of business registration, and a decrease in bribery.