Anti-corruption advocates are pressing CNN to ask Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders about how each plans to deal with "corporate secrecy havens" in the United States at Thursday’s Democratic debate.
Transparency International-USA and a coalition of other activist groups have been lobbying for legislation that would prevent anonymous company registration in Delaware and other U.S. states. Transparency International-USA cited Delaware as one of the group’s 15 cases of "grand corruption" last year due to the state’s corporate secrecy laws.
The group on Wednesday called on CNN debate moderators to ask the Democratic candidates about U.S.-based corporate havens, an issue that has received fresh attention after a leak of documents from a Panama law firm put a spotlight on foreign tax havens.
"With enough tweets we hope to have a question on how each candidate proposes to end secret company ownership allowed in Delaware and 49 other states," said Shruti Shah, vice president for programs and operations at Transparency International-USA, in a statement on Wednesday.
Neither Clinton nor Sanders has said whether they support the legislation to end anonymous company ownership in states like Delaware. Both candidates have mentioned the issues raised by the Panama law firm documents, known as the "Panama Papers," on the campaign trail.
The Washington Free Beacon reported on Monday that Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton have set up two shell companies at 1209 North Orange Street in Wilmington, Delaware. The address, which is the headquarters for the registered agent Corporation Trust Company, is home to over 200,000 companies and has come under scrutiny from the press and anti-secrecy advocates.
Clinton has criticized corporate tax havens in places such as Panama, calling them "outrageous" and vowing to crack down on tax evasion. Sanders has also decried the use of foreign corporate havens, and said as president he would end the free trade agreement with Panama that was pushed by Hillary Clinton at the State Department.