From the June issue: When President Donald Trump jumped into office on Jan. 20, he came vowing swift deregulation that would free up American businesses and expand a struggling economy. But there’s one lesser-known regulation on the books that his administration has given its blessing to and may even expand — and the industry it affects is the one in which Trump made his name.
In January 2016, during Barack Obama’s presidency, the financial crimes unit of the U.S. Treasury Department, known as FinCEN, announced a pilot program requiring title insurance companies to disclose the real names behind shell companies buying up luxury residential properties in Manhattan and Miami. In turn, investigators were given more power to chip away at the veils of secrecy and track suspicious people cutting all-cash deals.