Dover Post | Opinion | by Delaware Coalition for Open Government
The Delaware Coalition for Open Government is urging members of the House Judiciary Committee to support House Bill 57, sponsored by Reps. John Kowalko and Kim Williams and Sen. Bruce Ennis, and to refer the bill to the full House of Representatives for their consideration when the bill comes before the Committee at 12:30 p.m. June 14 in the House Majority Hearing Room, Legislative Hall, Dover.
If passed by the general assembly and signed into law by the governor, HB 57 will require all resident agents to screen applicants that form limited liability companies by comparison to sanctions lists maintained by the Office of Foreign Assets Control.
DelCOG has been researching online sources and found at least two Delaware LLCs on the OFAC sanctions list, 200G PSA Holdings and Agusta Grand I, which federal authorities listed as Narcotics Trafficking Kingpins.
After being informed by DelCOG of 200G PSA Holdings inclusion on the OFAC sanctions list, the Delaware Department of State removed them from the approved list of LLC’S.
OFAC is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Treasury that administers and enforces economic sanctions programs primarily against countries and groups of individuals, such as terrorists and narcotics traffickers.
Placement on the OFAC Sanctions Lists means that “U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions or otherwise dealing with these individuals and entities and any assets” they “may have under U.S. jurisdiction are frozen.”
Delaware law requires that every business entity have and maintain a registered agent in the state of Delaware who may be either an individual resident or business entity that is authorized to do business in the state of Delaware. More than one million business entities take advantage of Delaware’s package of incorporation services, according to the Delaware State Department website.
The Delaware Coalition for Open Government, one of 42 state affiliates of the National Freedom of Information Coalition, is committed to promoting and defending the people’s right to transparency and accountability in government.