territories and crown dependencies are only required to tell the true name of owners of shell companies upon request from official law enforcement agencies. However, since 2020 they are forced to publish these names in a public register in order to prevent anonymous use of shell companies. United States The new customer due diligence (CDD) rule from 2016 forces banks to know the names of their customers in order to reveal them to law enforcement agencies upon request. Thereby, anonymous misuse of shell companies shall be prevented. The rule is administered by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). In January 2021 anonymous shell companies were effectively banned via a provision in the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021. India A "Task Force On Shell Corporations" was constituted in 2017 under the chairmanship of the Revenue Secretary to the Government Of India and Corporate Affairs Secretary to Govt. Of India, for effectively tackling malpractice by shell companies in a comprehensive manner. European Union On 22 December 2021, the European Commission adopted a proposal for an EU Directive to tackle the misuse of shell companies for tax purposes. Also known as the "Unshell" directive, the proposal requires the unanimous agreement of all 27 EU Member States' finance ministers before entering into force. See also Alternative public offering Brass plate company Dummy corporation Front organization Holding company Internal competition Loophole Money laundering Numbered company Offshore company Offshore financial center Shadow banking system Structured investment vehicle Tax inversion Transparency (market) References Corporations Tax avoidance Fraud