"BEARER shares, an archaic financial instrument in which the only proof of ownership is the physical possession of the shares on paper, will finally be outlawed in the Czech Republic. It is high time. The opaque ownership of companies with such bearer shares is a huge problem during bidding for public contracts.
Bearer shares make it impossible to know if state officials making decisions over public tenders are shareholders in the very firms that stand to profit from the contract. In cases where prosecutors or the police suspect such wrongdoing, they cannot prove it. Bearer shares are not registered with any central authority, regulatory agency or tax office. Often the company itself is unable to track the transfer of bearer shares between owners. The financing of major Czech political parties and their related clientelist networks are often intertwined with the practice. A study earlier this year found that 14,000 out of 25,000 of the country’s joint stock companies have outstanding bearer shares."
'via Blog this'
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