Buying their goods, using their services, even wearing their names.

動輒購買他們的產品、使用他們的服務，甚至直接把他們的名字穿在身上。

Corporations and companies have become such a familiar part of the modern landscape that it's easy to forget they're artificial entities created to allow real people to do business.

大大小小的公司如今成為現代風景日常的一部份，讓我們忘卻了他們是背後由真人操作，用於從事商業活動的人造法人實體。

But there are some types of companies that aren't engaged in any business at all.

然而，某些型態的企業完全不從事商業活動。

Instead, these anonymous companies exist mainly to disguise people doing things they'd rather not have the public know about.

相對的，這些匿名公司只是一些人為了不讓自己的所做所未被大眾知曉所做出的偽裝。

And these people go to great lengths to hide any links between their names and the companies they own.

他們不遺餘力地隱匿他們的名字與公司之間的關聯。

The life of an anonymous company usually begins in what's known as a secrecy jurisdiction, a place whose laws allow new companies to be registered with little disclosure about who owns or controls them.

匿名公司大多設立在擁有被稱為保密管轄權的地方。這種地方的法律允許公司在僅提供關於公司所有者或控制者少量資訊的情況下登記註冊。

Some may simply not require collecting that information.

有些甚至完全不需要該項資訊。

Others may collect it, but make it nearly inaccessible to anyone else.

有些則會收集這些資訊，但會讓第三方非常難以取得。

And the lack of incentive to verify companies' real owners makes it easy for people to cover their tracks.

而由於缺乏查驗公司真正擁有者的動機，使得人們能輕易地掩蓋他們的所作所為。

For example, someone may register a company in the name of a relative, an associate, or even a nominee director who acts on instruction from the company's actual owner while keeping their name confidential.

例如，有人會利用親戚或合夥人，甚至是任命理事的名義來註冊，要求他們在依照公司真正擁有者的指令行事的情況下，對自己的名字保密。

Once registered, a company can do many of the same things as a human being, like opening bank accounts, buying and owning assets, and transferring money.

一旦註冊成功後，公司便能做一般人能做的事。例如，銀行開戶、購置與擁有資產與移轉資金。

What's more, it can be listed as the owner of other companies, including ones opened in places with stricter disclosure rules.

此外，它也可以做為其他公司的母公司，包括開設在保密條款更加嚴密地方的公司。

This allows someone to create a complex world-wide chain of ownership that can take years to unravel.

這建構出了涵蓋全球的複雜所有權連鎖關係，如果想抽絲剝繭找出真正的所有者得花上好幾年。

A company based in the U.S. may be wholly owned by another one in Liechtenstein, which is owned in turn by one in the British Virgin Islands.

在美國設立據點的公司可能由另一個位在列支敦士登的公司所持有，而這間列支敦士登的公司則由在英屬維爾京群島的公司所持有。

And an anonymous company can be transferred to a new owner at any time with no public record of the change.

而匿名公司可以在不帶有任何公開變更紀錄的情況下，隨時轉移公司所有權。

So why all the anonymity?

所以，為何對匿名如此執著？

Defenders of financial secrecy argue that wealthy individuals need it to avoid intrusive media attention and threats to personal security.

財務保密原則的擁護者辯道，有錢的富人需要匿名以避免媒體的關注以及對個人安全的威脅。

But while this may sometimes be justified, anonymous companies play a role in almost every type of economic crime, including many major corruption cases.

雖然這樣的說辭有時說得通，但匿名公司在幾乎所有種類的經濟犯罪上都佔有一席之地，其中包括許多重大的貪汙弊案。

They are used by corporations evading taxes, rogue governments skirting sanctions, terrorists buying arms, and dictators financing wars.

企業用它來逃漏稅、邊緣政權利用它來迴避制裁、恐怖分子用它來購置武器、獨裁者用它來為戰事籌募資金。

Organized crime groups launder their profits through anonymous companies.

組織犯罪團體利用匿名公司來洗錢。

Corrupt government officials award valuable contracts to corporations they secretly own.

貪汙的政府官員將高價合約承包給他們私下擁有的企業。

International oligarchs with criminal connections or questionable pasts have used anonymous companies to discretely buy luxury apartments in cities like London and New York City, keeping them as safe stores of wealth.

與犯罪者勾結或有著可疑過往的的國際寡頭政客們利用匿名公司，在倫敦與紐約等大城市謹慎地購買豪宅，將其作為安全置產的方式。

And even when criminals are convicted, their anonymously held assets may be difficult for authorities to locate or seize, making it harder for victims to be compensated.

即使罪犯被定罪了，政府當局將很難找到或查封他們的匿名資產，讓受害者難以求償。

Efforts are now underway to chip away at these crime-enabling mechanisms.

各界正努力地消弭這以犯罪為根基的機制。

International authorities and NGOs have called for requiring companies to state who ultimately makes their decisions and benefits from their assets.

國際當局與非政府組織呼籲企業應當公開其政策決策，並將資產利潤透明化。

But while progress is being made, international cooperation has been difficult to achieve, as governments that profit from registering anonymous companies are reluctant to lose business.

雖然現況有所進展，但註冊匿名公司中獲利的政府卻不願意放下到手的這些國際企業。

And some of the most popular places for this practice are located not on remote, tropical tax shelters, but within the same advanced nations which claim to be leading the fight for global financial transparency.

而匿名公司最受歡迎的註冊地方反而不位在遙遠熱帶小島上的逃稅天堂，而是位在同樣主張國際財務透明化的先進國家中。

But still, it's a fight worth fighting.

儘管如此，這仍是值得爭取的一戰。

Closing the legal loopholes that enable anonymous companies would help us cut down on corruption and illegal activity.

消除匿名公司所依據的法律漏洞有助於減少貪污與非法活動。

It would also allow us, as the general public, to better understand the flow of enormous sums of money that impact politics, our daily lives, and the health of our world.

這也讓我們平民老百姓能對影響著政治、日常還有世界健全運作的龐大金流能有更深入的瞭解。

[global witness | You can learn more about anonymous companies by watching Charmian Gooch's TED Talk]

[全球見證 | 你能藉由觀看 Charmian Gooch 的 TED 演講來瞭解更多有關匿名公司的資訊]