I've come here today to talk to you about a problem. It's a very simple yet devastating problem, one that spans the globe and is affecting all of us. The problem is anonymous companies. It sounds like a really dry and technical thing, doesn't it? But anonymous companies are making it difficult and sometimes impossible to find out the actual human beings responsible sometimes for really terrible crimes. So, why am I here talking to all of you? Well, I guess I am a lifelong troublemaker and when my parents taught my twin brother and I to question authority, I don't think they knew where it might lead. (Laughter) And, they probably really regretted it during my stroppy teenage years when, predictably, I questioned their authority a lot. And a lot of my school teachers didn't appreciate it much either. You see, since the age of about five I've always asked the question, but why? But why does the Earth go around the sun? But why is blood red? But why do I have to go to school? But why do I have to respect the teachers and authority? And little did I realize that this question would become the basis of everything I would do. And so it was in my twenties, a long time ago, that one rainy Sunday afternoon in North London I was sitting with Simon Taylor and Patrick Alley and we were busy stuffing envelopes for a mail out in the office of the campaign group where we worked at the time. And as usual, we were talking about the world's problems. And in particular, we were talking about the civil war in Cambodia. And we had talked about that many, many times before. But then suddenly we stopped and looked at each other and said, but why don't we try and change this? And from that slightly crazy question, over two decades and many campaigns later, including alerting the world to the problem of blood diamonds funding war, from that crazy question, Global Witness is now an 80-strong team of campaigners, investigators, journalists and lawyers. And we're all driven by the same belief, that change really is possible.
今天在此, 我想與在座各位探討一個問題。 這個問題相當簡單,但危害性巨大, 全球各地都有它的蹤跡, 與我們每個人息息相關。 這個問題就是 匿名公司。 聽上去很無聊、很複雜 對不對? 現今的匿名公司卻讓人很難, 有時甚至不可能, 揪出 幕後真正的負責人, 有時候他們甚至犯下滔天大罪。 那麼,我為何要在此 跟各位探討這個問題呢? 我想我這個人一輩子都愛自找麻煩。 當我雙親教我和雙胞胎哥哥 質疑權威時, 我想他們沒料到這會造成什麼後果。 (笑聲) 他們大概也真後悔了, 特別是在我青春叛逆期,想當然爾, 我經常質疑他們的權威。 我學校裡的教師 大多都也不欣賞我這點。 實際上,大概從五歲開始 我就一直愛問,可是為什麼? 可是為什麼地球圍著太陽轉? 可是為什麼血是紅色? 可是為什麼我要去上學? 可是為什麼我要尊重老師 和權威? 但是我一點都沒意識到 這樣的問題竟然為 我日後一切行動打下基礎。 大概是在 我二十多歲時,很久以前的事, 在倫敦北部某個下雨的週日下午, 我、賽門.泰勒 還有派翠克.艾黎坐在一起。 我們當時忙著塞信封 從倡議團體辦公室寄出信件。 我們當時替這倡議團體工作。 跟以往一樣, 我們會聊國際上的問題。 那次我們談到 柬埔寨內戰。 這個話題我們談過很多遍了。 但是,突然我們停了下來 盯著對方, 問道:我們為何不嘗試改變這個現狀? 就從這個有點瘋狂的問題之後, 二十多年以來, 經歷過多次倡議運動之後, 這也包括向世界 警示關於血鑽資助戰爭的問題, 自從此瘋狂問題提出, 「全球目擊」現已成為一個 擁有 80 名成員的大型團隊, 其中有活動發起人、調查員、記者和律師。 我們有共同的信念 那就是:改變,真的是有可能的。
So, what exactly does Global Witness do? We investigate, we report, to uncover the people really responsible for funding conflict -- for stealing millions from citizens around the world, also known as state looting, and for destroying the environment. And then we campaign hard to change the system itself. And we're doing this because so many of the countries rich in natural resources like oil or diamonds or timber are home to some of the poorest and most dispossessed people on the planet. And much of this injustice is made possible by currently accepted business practices. And one of these is anonymous companies. Now we've come up against anonymous companies in lots of our investigations, like in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where we exposed how secretive deals involving anonymous companies had deprived the citizens of one of the poorest countries on the planet of well over a billion dollars. That's twice the country's health and education budget combined. Or in Liberia, where an international predatory logging company used front companies as it attempted to grab a really huge chunk of Liberia's unique forests. Or political corruption in Sarawak, Malaysia, which has led to the destruction of much of its forests. Well, that uses anonymous companies too. We secretly filmed some of the family of the former chief minister and a lawyer as they told our undercover investigator exactly how these dubious deals are done using such companies. And the awful thing is, there are so many other examples out there from all walks of life. This truly is a scandal of epic proportions hidden in plain sight. Whether it's the ruthless Mexican drugs cartel, the Zetas, who use anonymous companies to launder profits while their drugs-related violence is tearing communities apart across the Americas. Or the anonymous company, which bought up Americans' tax debts, piled on the legal fees and then gave homeowners a choice: Pay up or lose your home. Imagine being threatened with losing your home sometimes over a debt of just a few hundred dollars, and not being able to find out who you were really up against.
「全球目擊」到底是做什麼的? 我們調查、報導, 以揪出真正需為引發、資助衝突負責的人、 從各國人民身上 竊取巨額財富的人, 這也是所謂的搶劫國家, 以及需要為破壞環境負責的人。 然後我們透過積極推廣各種運動 來改變機制。 我們之所以這樣做,是因為許多國家 擁有豐富自然資源, 例如石油、鑽石、木材, 而它們的人民多為全世界最窮苦、 一無所有的人。 如今大部分的不公平 之所以存在, 皆因這些商業行為普遍為世人所接受。 而匿名公司,就是其中之一。 現在我們已經在多項調查中, 堅決抵制匿名公司 譬如,在剛果民主共和國, 我們揭發了一些秘密交易, 這其中,匿名公司 剝削了 世界上最窮國家的人民, 騙取金額上十億美元。 這可是該國衛生與教育經費 相加的兩倍。 在賴比瑞亞, 一個掠奪人民的國際木材公司 利用幌子公司 來獲取利比亞大量的珍貴森林資源。 還有,馬來西亞沙撈越市的政治貪污 已導致該國的大量森林資源遭受破壞, 這也是匿名公司所為。 我們偷拍了那裡前總局長的家庭成員, 他也是名律師, 他們確確實實地 告訴我們的便衣調查員 他們是如何利用匿名公司 進行這些可疑勾當。 最可惡的是 現在還有眾多類似的案例 匿身於各行各業中, 這的確是一個天大的醜聞, 就攤在世人眼前。 無論是殘忍的墨西哥販毒集團 塞塔斯 (the Zetas), 他們一邊利用匿名公司來洗錢, 而他們的販毒暴力 卻在另一邊破壞美洲社區。 有些匿名公司 收購美國的稅收債權, 累積法律費用, 然後只給屋主一個選擇 要嘛付錢,要嘛失去家園 大家想像一下,被威脅要失去家園, 有時這不過是為了一筆幾百美元的債務, 卻又找不出 到底欠的是誰的錢。
Now anonymous companies are great for sanctions busting too. As the Iranian government found out when, through a series of front companies, it owned a building in the very heart of Manhattan, on Fifth Avenue, despite American sanctions. And Juicy Couture, home of of the velvet track suit, and other companies were the unwitting, unknowing tenants there. There are just so many examples, the horesemeat scandal in Europe, the Italian mafia, they've used these companies for decades. The $100 million American Medicare fraud, the supply of weapons to wars around the world including those in Eastern Europe in the early '90s. Anonymous companies have even come to light in the recent revolution in the Ukraine.
現在的匿名公司 在抵制制裁方面也有一手。 伊朗政府 透過一系列的幌子公司 在曼哈頓第五大道的中心 擁有一幢大樓, 儘管伊朗在接受美國制裁。 以絲絨田徑服著名的橘滋 (Juicy Couture) 以及其他的公司完全不知道 承租的建築所有人是誰。 這樣的例子舉不勝舉。 歐洲的馬肉醜聞、 義大利的黑手黨,他們幾十年來 一直都用這樣的公司。 美國一億聯邦醫療保險詐騙事件、 對全國各地戰爭的軍火供應 這其中包括 90 年代東歐的戰爭。 而這些匿名公司 在烏克蘭最近的革命當中 也看得到其蹤影。
But, for every case that we and others expose there are so many more that will remain hidden away because of the current system. And it's just a simple truth that some of the people responsible for outrageous crimes, for stealing from you and me and millions of others, they are remaining faceless and they are escaping accountability and they're doing this with ease, and they're doing it using legal structures. And really, that is unfair. Well, you might well ask, what exactly is an anonymous company, and can I really set one up, and use it, without anyone knowing who I am? Well, the answer is, yes you can. But if you're anything like me, you'll want to see some of that for yourself, so let me show you. Well first you need to work out where you want to set it up. Now, at this point you might be imagining one of those lovely tropical island tax havens but here's the thing, shockingly, my own hometown, London, and indeed the U.K., is one of the best places in the world to set up an anonymous company. And the other, even better, I'm afraid that's America. Do you know, in some states across America you need less identification to open up a company than you do to get a library card, like Delaware, which is one of the easiest places in the world to set up an anonymous company.
儘管我們和其他人揭露了這麼些案例, 但在目前的體制下 類似的案例還有許多,仍是不為人知。 而事情的真相就是, 一些人犯了令人髮指的罪行 他們在你、我以及千千萬萬人身上偷竊, 卻不用露面 對自己的所作所為拒不責任, 並且做起來面不改容心不跳。 他們利用的就是合法的機制結構。 確實,這相當不公平。 你可能會問: 匿名公司到底是什麼? 我也可以設立使用嗎? 別人真的不會知道我是誰? 答案是:沒錯,你可以這樣做。 但如果你跟我一樣, 你會想先了解其中的內情。 讓我來說明一下。 首先,你需要想清楚 你想要把公司設在哪裡。 此時此刻,你可能會想到 某個迷人的熱帶島嶼避稅天堂。 但事實 很令人震驚, 我的家鄉倫敦 沒錯,整個英國 竟是世界上 最適宜設立匿名公司的地方之一。 另外一個更合適的地方 很抱歉,就是美國了。 大家知道嗎?在美國的一些州 建立一個公司 所需的身份證明文件 比申請圖書館借書證還少。 譬如說特拉華州 就是世界上 最好設立匿名公司的地方之一。
Okay, so let's say it's America, and let's say it's Delaware, and now you can simply go online and find yourself a company service provider. These are the companies that can set your one up for you, and remember, it's all legal, routine business practice. So, here's one, but there are plenty of others to choose from. And having made your choice, you then pick what type of company you want and then fill in a contact, name and address. But don't worry, it doesn't have to be your name. It can be your lawyer's or your service provider's, and it's not for the public record anyway. And then you add the owner of the company. Now this is the key part, and again it doesn't have to be you, because you can get creative, because there is a whole universe out there of nominees to choose from. And nominees are the people that you can legally pay to be your company's owner. And if you don't want to involve anyone else, it doesn't even have to be an actual human being. It could be another company. And then finally, give your company a name add a few more details and make your payment. And then the service provider will take a few hours or more to process it. But there you are, in 10 minutes of online shopping you can create yourself an anonymous company. And not only is it easy, really, really easy and cheap, it's totally legal too. But the fun doesn't have to end there, maybe you want to be even more anonymous. Well, that's no problem either. You can simply keep adding layers, companies owned by companies. You can have hundreds of layers with hundreds of companies spread across lots of different countries, like a giant web, each layer adds anonymity. Each layer makes it more difficult for law enforcement and others to find out who the real owner is. But whose interests is this all serving? It might be in the interests of the company or a particular individual, but what about all of us, the public? There hasn't even been a global conversation yet about whether it's okay to misuse companies in this way. And what does it all mean for us?
好吧,我們假設是在美國, 也假設是在特拉華州。 現在你可以簡單的打開網頁 找一家公司服務供應商, 這類公司可以幫助你設立公司。 記住,這所有一切都是 合法的正規商業操作。 這是其中一個, 但你還有很多可以選。 選好之後 你再選擇需設立的公司類型, 然後填入聯絡資料、姓名、地址。 不過大家不用擔心 不必填你的真實姓名, 可以填你律師的姓名、 可以填服務供應商的名字, 反正這個不對公眾公開。 然後填上公司所有人。 這是關鍵部分 這裡也不必一定填你自己, 因為你可以耍點創意 因為宇宙廣闊浩渺, 有很多代名人供你選擇。 這些代名人 能合法收錢,擔任你公司的所有人。 要是你不願意讓其他人加入 也可以隨便填張三李四, 或者填另外一個公司名。 最後 給你公司起個名。 補充點細節,付點錢, 然後,服務供應商 會用幾個小時來處理資料。 但是你看, 十分鐘網購的時間 你就可以建立自己的匿名公司。 這不只是簡單 簡單到不行、廉價, 這還是完全合法的。 但遊戲還沒結束呢。 也許你想要更匿名一點。 這沒有問題, 添加多幾層關係就可以了。 上一個公司持有下一個公司, 你可以添加上百層持有關係。 中間牽涉的公司 可以遍布世界各國, 如同一張巨型網路, 每一層都讓你更增匿名性。 每一層的添加 都讓執法機關及其他人 難以找出真正的所有人。 但這樣做,是誰最終得益? 可能是某個公司 也可能是某個人。 但是我們這些普羅大眾怎麼辦? 至今為止,全球尚未關注 是否能繼續如此 濫用匿名公司? 這對於我們又意味著什麼?
Well, an example that really haunts me is one I came across recently. And it's that of a horrific fire in a nightclub in Buenos Aires about a decade ago. It was the night before New Year's Eve. Three thousand very happy revelers, many of them teenagers, were crammed into a space meant for 1,000. And then tragedy struck, a fire broke out plastic decorations were melting from the ceiling and toxic smoke filled the club. So people tried to escape only to find that some of the fire doors had been chained shut. Over 200 people died. Seven hundred were injured trying to get out. And as the victims' families and the city and the country reeled in shock, investigators tried to find out who was responsible. And as they looked for the owners of the club, they found instead anonymous companies, and confusion surrounded the identities of those involved with the companies. Now ultimately, a range of people were charged and some went to jail. But this was an awful tragedy, and it shouldn't have been so difficult just to try and find out who was responsible for those deaths. Because in an age when there is so much information out there in the open, why should this crucial information about company ownership stay hidden away? Why should tax evaders, corrupt government officials, arms traders and more, be able to hide their identities from us, the public? Why should this secrecy be such an accepted business practice? Anonymous companies might be the norm right now but it wasn't always this way. Companies were created to give people a chance to innovate and not have to put everything on the line. Companies were created to limit financial risk, they were never intended to be used as a moral shield. Companies were never intended to be anonymous, and they don't have to be.
最近,我遇到了一個 令我相當痛惜的一個案例。 那是在十年前 在布宜諾斯艾利斯一家夜店 發生的一場大火。 那天晚上是新年前夕。 三千名狂歡者 其中大部分是青少年 塞進了原來只能容納一千人的空間。 然後悲劇發生了。 發生一場火災, 天花板的塑膠裝飾品慢慢熔化, 有毒煙霧蔓延了整間夜店, 人們慌慌逃跑, 但卻發現一些防火門 被鐵鍊鎖住了。 這造成二百多人喪生, 七百多人在逃跑時受傷。 當受害者的家屬、整個城市以及整個國家 深受震驚時, 調查員嘗試找出背後負責人。 當他們追查該夜店所有人時, 他們只發現了一些匿名公司。 大家都搞不清楚 那些公司背後的人的真實身份。 最後,一連串的相關人等已被控訴, 有些人被判刑入獄。 但這仍然還是一件令人扼腕的慘劇, 而且不該需要這麼千辛萬苦 才有辦法找出該對這些死者 負責的人。 因為在現今這個時代, 處處皆有大量訊息 開放給公眾, 為什麼偏偏這麼關鍵的 關於公司擁有權的訊息 卻藏匿的如此隱蔽? 為什麼這些逃稅人、 政府貪污官員、 軍火交易商等, 可以向公眾隱藏他們的真實身份? 為什麼這樣的秘密成為正當的商業行為? 這些匿名公司 或許現在很常見, 但是以往不是這樣的。 以前的公司創立 是為了給人們一個機會能創新, 而不需要投注一切去冒險。 公司的創立是為了限制金融風險 從來不是為了用作一道道德防護盾。 設立公司的目的從來不是為了匿名的, 而且也不需要匿名。
And so I come to my wish. My wish is for us to know who owns and controls companies so that they can no longer be used anonymously against the public good. Together let's ignite world opinion, change the law, and launch a new era of openness in business. So what might this look like? Well, imagine if you could go online and look up the real owner of a company. Imagine if this data were open and free, accessible across borders for citizens and businesses and law enforcement alike. Imagine what a game changer that would be. So how are we going to do this? Well, there is only one way. Together, we have to change the law globally to create public registries which list the true owners of companies and can be accessed by all with no loopholes. And yes, this is ambitious, but there is momentum on this issue, and over the years I have seen the sheer power of momentum, and it's just starting on this issue. There is such an opportunity right now. And the TED community of creative and innovative thinkers and doers across all of society could make the crucial difference. You really can make this change happen. Now, a simple starting point is the address behind me for a Facebook page that you can join now to support the campaign and spread the word. It's going to be a springboard for our global campaigning. And the techies among you, you could really help us create a prototype public registry to demonstrate what a powerful tool this could be. Campaign groups from around the world have come together to work on this issue. The U.K. government is already on board; it supports these public registries. And just last week, the European Parliament came on board with a vote 600 to 30 in favor of public registries. That is momentum. (Applause) But it's early days. America still needs to come on board, as do so many other countries. And to succeed we will all together need to help and push our politicians, because without that, real far-reaching, world-shifting change just isn't going to happen. Because this isn't just about changing the law, this is about starting a conversation about what it's okay for companies to do, and in what ways is it acceptable to use company structures. This isn't just a dry policy issue. This is a human issue which affects us all. This is about being on the right side of history. Global citizens, innovators, business leaders, individuals, we need you. Together, let's kickstart this global movement. Let's just do it, let's end anonymous companies. Thank you. (Applause)
現在我想談談我的願望。 我的願望是,讓大家知道 擁有以及控制公司的人是誰, 讓這些公司再也不能 被匿名運用、傷害大眾利益。 讓我們一起掀起全球話題、 改變法律, 並開啟一個商業公開的新時代。 這個新時代長什麼樣子? 想像一下你可以打開網頁 查找任何公司的真正所有人。 想像一下這些資料對公眾免費開放, 可以跨國查閱, 供市民、公司 以及執法機關等查閱。 想像一下這將如何改變情勢。 那麼,我們又怎樣可以做到? 辦法只有一個: 我們必須全世界性地修改律法, 創造公共註冊系統 列明所有公司的真正所有人, 並對所有人開放, 不允許任何法律漏洞。 是的,這相當野心勃勃。 但現在這個問題已開始有推動力了。 這些年來,我已經見識過 這種動力的力量 開始在這問題上發威。 現在就是一個大好機會, TED 社群 容納著富有創意、敢於創新的思考者和行動者 來自各行各業, 這可以帶來重大的改變, 各位確實可以讓改變發生。 最簡單的開端 就是我身後的網址。 你可以加入這臉書網頁 支持我們的活動,傳播我們的想法。 這將會成為 我們全球運動的跳板。 在場的工程設計師 你們可以幫助我們創建 一個公共註冊網站原型, 證明這可以成為一個有力的工具。 世界各地的活動團隊 已經聚集一起,共同解決這問題。 英國政府已加入我們的行列, 支持公共註冊系統。 就在上週 歐洲議會也決定加入, 投票結果 600 對 30 支持公共註冊。 這就是動力。 (掌聲) 但這只是剛起步, 美國也必須加入這個行列, 還有其他很多國家也是。 若要成功,我們所有人 需要一起幫助和推動政客。 因為不這樣做, 這項遙不可及、撼動世界的改變 恐怕無法實現。 因為改變的不只是法律, 還需要開展對話, 探討公司可以做什麽, 以及在何種情況下 使用公司架構是可接受的。 這不是一個無趣的政策話題, 這是一個全人類的話題, 影響著我們所有人。 這是關於站在歷史上正確的一方, 世界公民、創新者、商業領導、所有個人, 我們需要你們。 讓我們攜手開啟這個全球運動, 讓我們趕緊行動, 讓我們終結匿名公司的存在。 謝謝。 (掌聲)