panama yacht sales

Welcome to Evermarine

Call us today +507 314 1000 or +507 60703150, evermarine yacht sales, inc. – panama representatives and dealership for azimut yachts..

Evermarine can help you through the entire journey of purchasing a new or pre-owned yacht. Want to upgrade? Evermarine can help you sell your existing boat, too!

Our Azimut Yachts Grande Collection

Azimut grande 32 metri.

Azimut Grande 35 METRI

Our Featured Yacht Brands

Azimut yachts.

Benetti Mega Yachts

140 years of history, close to 300 boats built, over 300,000 sq m of production facilities at six boatyards in Italy and 36 yachts under construction at the present time, including a 90-meter mega yacht. These facts and figures unambiguously demonstrate the momentum of Benetti’s growth and Clients’ unrestrained confidence in the brand. Benetti has been crowned Show Boats International’s leading builder of custom mega yachts for 10 years running.

Check Out Some Of Our Featured Yachts

Azimut 78 Flybridge

Benetti Oasis 40m

Azimut Verve 47

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• Yachts for Sale in Panama

Yacht for Sale Models 55

Carbo yacht for sale 90, yacht for sale models 46, riva 63 virtus yacht for sale, 98ft cruise ship in hurghada, yacht for sale models 52, yacht for sale models 49, yacht for sale models 45.

Explore the largest online selection of luxury yachts for sale , featuring only the highest quality superyachts from the Panama leading brokers.

For expert information and advice about buying or selling boats and yachts in Panama contact one of our experienced advisers who will be happy to assist you.

Yachts for Sale is the company that successfully performs all transactions such as yachts, boats and yachts sales brokerage. Guaranteed sales transactions are made by all the operating companies we will do. We serve Panama and the whole world.

• Boats for Sale in Panama

For aspiring yacht owners looking for a luxury yachts, we have put together a fine selection of luxury explorer yachts, motor yachts, used yachts, sailing yachts, trawler yachts, classic yachts, boats and yachts for sale from all over the world. Search Yachts for Sale collection of superyachts for sale and filter by type, length, asking price or age. Narrow the results by selecting specific features, or browse by speed, designer and much more.

Used Yachts for Sale in Panama

Used yachts for sale near you in Panama and across world. Find your ideal boats, compare prices and more. Get an email alert for new ads matching your search. Buying a boats has never been so easy!

When looking for new, pre-owned, and used used yachts for sale in Panama, the amount of time it takes to narrow down exactly what you want can some times be intimidating. With so many manufacturers, models, and boats types, how do you begin to find the right yacht that meets your budget and your needs?

 Yachts for Sales is the one-stop professional yacht brokerage that can navigate you through the frustrations and help you make the best decision possible when it comes to the purchase of your next boats. We can help you find the yacht for sale, set up the showings, help negotiate pricing, handle the yacht closing and everything else involved, and we do all of this so you are able simply sit back and to enjoy the process. Buying a yacht requires a significant investment and it is our goal to provide you with detailed information and professional guidance.

When searching for a yachts for sale , there are a plethora of options. The yachts on our website number over 1,157 listings, including yachts built by top brands such as Tartan, Albin, Sunseeker, Mainship, Pursuit, Selene, Hatteras, Outer Reef and more. Yachts for Sale can also help you find the best used center-console boats for sale in Panama from brands like Yellowfin, Contender, and more. To view used yachts for sale in Panama, browse below and click the photo for more information.

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YACHTS & CATAMARANS FOR SALE PANAMA

Our sales representatives are available to assist with all your yachting queries including sales, service and general advice. This includes everything you need to know about buying or selling a yacht in Panama.

Panama: San Francisco Calle 50, Torre BMW, Piso 10 Panama City, Panama

M: +507 63634525 (Peter Schwarze) P: +61 (0) 7 5452 5164 E: [email protected]

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• Boats for Sale

Boats for Sale in Panama

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Showing 1 - 22 of 22 results

Cristóbal (Panama)

OFFERED BY:

Yacht Broker Caribbean

This 2005 Lagoon 570, a proven expedition vessel, is now available for sale. Used in extensive sailing expeditions around French Polynesia, this catamaran has demonstrated exceptional performan...

Pendennis 77

YateOcasion

Phoenix 77 is a yacht designed by Rob Humphreys and built by Pendennis Shipyard in the UK. This tall cruiser offers high performance under sail with the comfort and luxury of a "Super Yacht". H...

Custom Sunrise 59 Day Charter

The Multihull Company

The Sun Cat 59 is a very attractive and efficient day-charter cat. It was conceived and built specifically for day charter. This cat will sail in the 10-15kts range very easily and her twin 75 H...

Hatteras 60'

Denison Yacht Sales

Broker Bonus Available Yacht | 60' Hatteras 1998 *SELLING BROKER BONUS AVAILABLE* Five Star is an exceptional 60 that's run by a full-time captain and has a seasoned owner that li...

Mikelson 43 Sportfisher

Rick Obey Yacht Sales

Don't miss this opportunity to buy thisbeautifulMikelson 43availablenow!! This boat has been maintained with an open checkbook since the owner had it. T...

Azimut Flybridge

This captain maintained, one owner, 2017 66' Azimut Flybridge boasts a 300 sq ft flybridge along with 4 staterooms and additional room for crew. Commissioned in 2017, "Prive" stands alone in he...

Azimut 66'

66' Azimut 2017 This captain maintained, one owner, 2017 66' Azimut Flybridge boasts a 300 sq ft flybridge along with 4 staterooms and additional room for crew. Commissioned in 2017...

Prestige 50

Perseus Boat | 50' Prestige 2013 The owner has authorized a very significant price reduction in the amount of $70,000. This vessel still belongs to her original owner, she was ne...

Lagoon 46'

Babur Boat | 46' Lagoon 2021 A price reduction of more then $100,000 - a statement by a serious seller. All reasonable offers will be considered. BABUR is a 2021 Lagoon 46 sai...

Judge 36'

Way Maker Boat | 36' Judge 2021 This is the flagship model in the Chesapeake series, the 36 effortlessly merges classic looks, luxurious appointments and rock-solid performance. Whe...

Bertram 510 Convertible

Wave Marine Group

Experience the perfect blend of luxury, performance, and sportfishing prowess with the 2008 Bertram 510 Convertible. This meticulously maintained yacht features twin MAN 1360HP...

For Sale: 2009 Azimut 50 Flybridge Discover the epitome of luxury and performance with the 2009 Azimut 50 Flybridge. This stylish and elegant yacht is designed for those who a...

Silverton Convertible

Notable Features The 45 Convertible is a yacht designed for adventure, boasting twin diesel engines and a wide beam for stability in rough seas. From the spacious cockpit an...

Tiara 38'

David, Provincia de Chiriqui, (Panama)

Agape Boat | 38' Tiara 2007 Tiara 38 Open TTS - Upgrades: (2) Garmin 8616 Galley AC FLIR night vision (3) Video Cameras Agape HIGHLIGHTS Yacht Details...

Horizon 78'

Bella Mare Yacht | 78' Horizon 2005 This 2005 Horizon 78' Bella Mare is in excellent condition. She carries a four-stateroom layout plus crew quarters powered by twin MAN engines at...

Azimut Grand Jumbo

This beautiful Azimut 105' Jumbo is a clean and beautifully maintained boat. The boat is located in Panama City, Panama and the owner is ready to sell for the asking price.The ...

Christobal, (Panama)

YACHTS UNLIMITED

S/V Althea is a newly redone 2000 Leopard 45/47 catamaran, for sale by owner. Althea has had her sugar scoops extended by 2 feet to a total of 47 feet to enhance her performance in 2023. The c...

Prestige 55'

Shanti III Boat | 55' Prestige 2016 This 2016 Prestige 550 Flybridge is managed by a full-time crew. She has always been captained- maintained since the owner has taken ownership. I...

Riva 33 Aqua Super

Allied Marine Brokerage and Charter

Aquarivacontinues the legendary Aquarama heritage while developing a cult following in her own right. Often copied but never reproduced, her elegant and sinuous lines, precious woo...

Riviera G2 Convertible Flybridge Series II

"La Baronesa" is a meticulously maintained and well-appointed dual-purpose yacht, catering to both family cruisers and serious offshore anglers. Equipped for long-range journey...

Viking Convertible

*SEAKEEPER* TheViking Convertible Sport Fish Boat stands as a testament to both timeless design and meticulous care, presenting itself in a pristine condition that belies its ...

Lagoon 42'

Boca Del Toros, (Panama)

Road Less Traveled Boat | 42' Lagoon 2013 S/V Road Less Traveled is a 2013 Lagoon 421, She is extensively upgraded extended for blue water cruising, completely equipped to begin you...

* Price displayed is based on today's currency conversion rate of the listed sales price.

SEARCH BY MAKE IN PANAMA

Search by category in panama.

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Panama New and Used Yachts and Boats for Sale

50' Azimut

• Cabins 3 Heads 2

51' Bertram

• Convertible Boats

45' Silverton

• Sport Fishing
• 2 YANMAR 720

47' Riviera

• La Baronesa

60' Viking

• Cabins 4 Heads 3

47' Leopard

• Cabins 4 Sleeps 8 Heads 4
• 2 YANMAR 4JH5E

38' Tiara Yachts

• Saltwater Fishing
• Cabins 1 Heads 1
• 2 Cummins QSC 8.3-49...

80' Hatteras

• Motor Yachts
• 1 Cater Pillar C32

189' Custom

• Expedition Yacht / Other
• Cabins 34 Sleeps 74
• 2 Fairbanks Morse

55' Prestige

• Motor Yachts / Flybridge
• Cabins 3 Heads 3
• 2 Cummins QSC 8.3

78' Horizon

• Cabins 4 Heads 4
• 2 MAN CR V12

42' Lagoon

• Multi-Hulls
• Road Less Traveled

43' Mikelson

• Cabins 3 Heads 1
• 2 Cummins 8.3L 480C-...

28' Boca Grande

• 1 Yanmar 315

66' Azimut

• 2 Caterpillar C18

58' Viking

46' Lagoon

• Multi-Hulls / Catamaran
• 2 Yanmar 4JH57

48' TIARA

• Other / Motor Yachts
• Cabins 2 Sleeps 6 Heads 1
• Tiara 4200 Open 2007

72' Sunseeker

• Other / Sports Cruiser
• Cabins 2 Sleeps 5 Heads 2

105' Azimut

• Cabins 4 Heads 5
• 2 Rolls Royce MTU V16 2000 9...

33' Riva

• Express Cruiser
• Cabins 1 Sleeps 2 Heads 1
• T/T Sha Sha Sha

58' Sea Ray

• 2 T/MAN D2848 LE 4...

65' Johnson

• 2 Caterpillar C-18

Disclaimer:

YachtBroker.org is a member listing service (MLS) for active Professional & Charter members of any professional yacht brokers association. We do not work directly with any vessel buyers or sellers. We do not receive any compensation from any resulting transactions.

These listings are presented to you courtesy of a professional yacht brokerage member. They are offered as a convenience on this website to its visitors and is not intended to convey direct representation of any particular vessel. These companies offer vessel details in good faith but cannot guarantee or warrant the accuracy of the information nor warrant the condition of any vessel. Any buyer should instruct their agent, or their surveyor, to investigate such details that the buyer desires validated. Vessels are offered subject to prior sale, price change, or withdrawal without notice.

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Panama Yacht

Panama is definitely not a preferred country for a Panama Yacht purchase. The Flag is what the yacht owners are after when they head to Panama. This country offers vessel registration that is easy, "painless" and inexpensive. This has been elaborated below.

Panama is a very unique country, which lies in the middle of two continents, and connects both North and South America, and the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean. The value of this land was realized during the dawn of all of the geographical explorations, when the first explorers crossed the so called Isthmus of Panama and encountered the Pacific Ocean. The Channel that was created to make crossing much easier allowing more ships to pass through had been built much later during this historical period.

Shestakov Yacht Sales: Your Source for a Panama Yacht

Panama is not a very prospering country, but to be fair, it makes great use of all advantages. Two thirds of the country's GDP is provided by tourism and international transit traffic. The laws here are the most lenient for Panama Yacht owners. Panama is not the preferred country for a yacht purchase, since Mexico, the Caribbean and the US are close by offering a good product for a fair price; however, on the other hand, registration services are an entirely different story. You can see a Panamanian flag in nearly every corner of the world. This may be attributed to local legislature permitting registration of any vessel to any individuals, even without Panama's citizenship. The fees are miniscule, and the time it takes for the registration process from start to finish is minimal. If you decide to buy a yacht in Panama and head out to sea immediately, it won't take much time to get prepared either.

Contact Us for a Panama Yacht

The yachting market is closely connected to the tourism industry in Panama. There are a lot of docks and Panama Yacht clubs, but even in more abundance are companies that provide chartering services. It is very easy to obtain clearance for a yacht to travel to practically anywhere, be it the Atlantic Ocean, the shores of the South America or the State of Florida in the United States of even the Pacific Ocean. Most of the yachts for sale in Panama are pre-owned and often very old, though the new ones are also there and are being sold at relatively attractive prices.

Yacht Sales in Panama Search

Learn more on the “Yacht Sales in Panama”

To learn more on the “Yacht Sales in Panama” or to get advice on how to buy or sell a yacht or get a great price for a yacht charter, please call: +1-954-274-4435 (USA)

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How To Buy A Yacht In Panama City, Panama

Denison yacht broker juno prudhomm takes us through the process of buying a boat in panama city..

Panama City is the capital of Panama and located on the Pacific coast of the country. It’s known for its cobblestoned historic center, vibrant cafes and bars, and the Miraflores Locks, which offer views of ships traveling through the Panama Canal.

Panama City is often overlooked as a base to visit the canal or as a stopover to South America, but it actually offers plenty of activities and opportunities for visitors. This dynamic city seamlessly meshes modern and traditional cultures. Here you can visit Casco Viejo (a UNESCO World Heritage site), hike Cerro Ancon to spot wildlife, or embark on a fishing trip. As it’s surrounded by two major bodies of water, boating is a popular activity in Panama and there are plenty of opportunities to buy a boat in Panama City.

Miami-based yacht broker, Juno Prudhomm is experienced and knowledgeable in buying or selling a boat in Panama. We sat down with Juno to learn about his work and the process of buying a boat in Panama City.

Juno goes by the motto “the more you learn, the more you earn,” which has helped him move forward and be open to new opportunities. Over the years as a Denison yacht broker , Juno gained the experience and knowledge to guide clients through buying or selling a boat, not only within the United States but also in Panama City, Panama. So how did Juno end up with work in Central America?

“The first time I did business in Panama was to sell a Scout center console,” said Juno. “I sold the boat and built a good rapport with that particular client. Thanks to that connection and through an email blast, another client in Panama reached out to me and now I’m selling his sportfish.” 

By now, Juno understands the process and procedures of buying a boat in Panama and confidently guides clients through the entire process. To start, Juno recommends flying to Panama City to experience the destination and browse yachts in person. As of April 2021, a negative COVID-19 test is required for entry taken no more than 48 hours prior to arrival. A mask mandate is in effect for the entire country.

It’s an easy flight to Panama City from the United States — a 3 hour non-stop flight from Miami or a 6 hour non-stop flight from Los Angeles. There are plenty of hotel accommodations throughout Panama City that are safe and resort-style, such as the Hilton, Wyndham, The W, and Summit Rainforest & Golf Resort.

Once in Panama City, which boasts a skyline and waterfront similar to Miami, Juno will guide you through finding a boat that’s right for you. There’s a wide variety of inventory in Panama and plenty of boat owners who are motivated to sell. Sportfish and center consoles are popular and readily available in the area.

“Most of the sportfish yachts in Panama are in really great shape because they run with a full-time crew,” said Juno. “In my experience, the boats in Panama are usually in pristine condition in terms of a late model sportfish or late model center console. They’re also located in nice marinas.”

When you find a boat you like, it’s easy to get it hulled out in Panama City. Juno knows which marinas are suitable to hull the boat out of the water for an inspection or survey. Although he notes, there are not a lot of surveyors in the area and recommends an alternative option.

“My best recommendation is to find a surveyor in the U.S. and fly them over to Panama to perform a survey on the boat,” commented Juno. “It’s worth it to fly someone out and cover their accommodations, transportation, and food expenses while they inspect the boat.”

Thanks to Juno’s connections in the area, he can help you find a great deal on a boat that’s in pristine condition. So after you find, survey, and purchase a boat in Panama City… what’s next? How do you get it to the United States?

“It only takes about 5 business days to ship a boat from Panama City to the U.S. It’s an easy and standard process when dealing with customs and delivering the boat to the final destination,” said Juno. “I’m in the process of selling my third boat in Panama — 2 of the boats were shipped to the U.S., so I understand the process and can confidently guide clients through shipping and customs.”

          View this post on Instagram                       A post shared by Juno Prudhomm 🇭🇹 (@junotheboatguy)

Juno most recently sold a 54-foot Bertram convertible 2013 located in Panama with an asking price of $1,185,000. It was shipped from Panama City to Fort Lauderdale and is now heading to Japan.

But Juno’s not all work. He recommends that if you have the time, to experience fishing on the Pacific side of Panama, which he notes is phenomenal. 

“If you’re going to buy a boat in Panama City, plan a fishing trip while you’re there. It’s a really exotic destination with some of the best fishing I have ever done!” Juno commented.

Through his experience, Juno finds that boat owners in Panama enjoy working with firms like Denison Yachting because of the company’s reach and stronghold in the industry. Consider buying a yacht in Panama City and let Juno guide you through the process. And hey, if anything, at least you get to experience an awesome boating destination.

Juno Prudhomm

• Email: [email protected]
• Cell: 786.385.5013
• Office: 786.482.5000
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The kleptocrats aren’t just stealing money. They’re stealing democracy

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Anne Applebaum

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Donald Trump opened Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in 1983 and occupied the penthouse himself. The building was intended to advertise its owner’s wealth, and also to attract other rich tenants — including, ironically, the very secretive rich. Trump would sell 43 condos in Manhattan’s flashiest building to shell companies based in jurisdictions such as Panama, the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands, which conceal corporate records. He sold another six condos, for cash, to corporations based in Delaware, which has historically had the least transparent company laws in the US.

Not that this was anything exceptional: in the four decades that followed, more than a fifth of the sales in Trump-owned and Trump-licensed buildings, more than 1,300 properties, were made to anonymously owned shell companies, for cash, without a mortgage, which meant the purchasers did not have to have any uncomfortable conversations with lenders.

Some of those companies sold those condos again, very quickly, at much higher prices or at much lower prices — usually a sign that money laundering might have been the actual purpose of the purchase. A Trump-licensed building in Florida sold a two-bedroom condo to a shell company on August 12 2010, for example, for $956,768. That shell company sold the condo to another shell company, at a heavy loss, for $525,000 that same day.

All of these transactions were legal and there’s no evidence to suggest that Trump or his companies knew of or were complicit in money laundering schemes. They have been reported and described many times. The examples cited above come from a BuzzFeed investigation published six years ago, in 2018, but it wasn’t the only one. A Financial Times investigation in that same year also found that Russian, Kazakh and other post-Soviet oligarchs had probably been laundering money through Trump-licensed properties.

During Trump’s presidency, the scrutiny on his business dealings intensified, but that made no difference: the proportion of his company’s anonymous sales went up, not down. In 2017, the first year of the Trump administration, more than two-thirds of sales in Trump-owned or Trump-licensed buildings, tens of millions of dollars’ worth of property, went to anonymous purchasers. If any of the buyers were hoping thereby to influence the domestic or foreign policy decisions of the Trump administration, we will never know.

In the years since Trump’s 2016 election, a lot has been written about his autocratic instincts, about his scorn for ethical norms and about his attempt to retain power after losing the 2020 election. But as illustrated by the story of his real estate company’s reliance on dubious shell companies, Trump was already operating in an alternate ethical universe long before he became president, a world where the rules that most ordinary people live by are easily broken.

Inside this domain, anonymously owned companies and funds based in offshore tax havens hide what could be as much as 10 per cent of the world’s GDP. This is money earned from organised crime or narcotics operations, stolen from legitimate institutions, or simply hidden, legally, with the aim of avoiding taxation, alimony or embarrassment. In this world, theft is rewarded. Taxes are not paid. Law enforcement is impotent and underfunded. Regulation is something to be dodged, not respected. The climate of this alternate reality is so different from the ordinary world that many have sought to find a name for it. The journalist Oliver Bullough called it “Moneyland”, the title of the book he published in 2018. Tom Burgis, then an FT reporter, named it “Kleptopia” in his book of 2020.

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Until recently, this alternative universe was considered a kind of nuisance, perhaps a problem for chronically underfunded regulators but not really something that required more political attention. However, since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, more people have begun to understand the ways in which the secret economy now poses a genuine national security threat to the US, to the UK, to Europe and to other democracies.

More to the point, they understand that the confiscation of a few yachts is no solution. What if, instead, we shut it all down? Whatever small advantages secrecy provides to some, businesses cannot compensate for the lethal threat that secretive business practices pose to democracy itself. The banks, financial institutions, law firms and accountants who constructed the opaque world of money laundering and tax havens could now deconstruct it.

Kleptocracy, in its modern form, began in the 1990s. Multiple accounts of Vladimir Putin’s rise to power have shown, for example, how even as deputy mayor of St Petersburg at that time he presided over schemes to steal money from the state, to launder it abroad and then bring it back into Russia, all with the help of European partners. Although Putin has spent his life as a civil servant, he has used his stolen money, and the stolen money hoarded by his inner circle, as a source of power and influence ever since.

Since the 1990s, the kleptocratic model created in Russia has spread much further. From Angola to Zimbabwe, dictators with access to hidden sources of wealth are better able to resist demands for political change. They can hide their families and their property abroad. They can finance bribery and influence operations. The aura of secrecy they build is also part of what keeps them in power. Ordinary Russians, ordinary Chinese or ordinary Venezuelans are not allowed to know why their rulers, and their rulers’ friends and their families, are billionaires, because they’re not meant to have any influence or understanding or knowledge of politics at all. That lack of knowledge creates a sense of helplessness, apathy, even despair.

The rise of kleptocratic autocracies has affected the democratic world too, shaping it in unseen ways. That we don’t know whether any Americans or any foreigners sought to influence the Trump administration using the president’s condo sales is only the beginning of the problem. The very architecture of our cities — London, Miami, New York — has been shaped by people who purchase houses as a secret store of value, who don’t necessarily intend to live in them at all.

This isn’t supposed to help criminals: most EU countries already have anti-money-laundering laws for real estate, for example. But they don’t have the apparatus to enforce them. Meanwhile, in some countries, the US included, the same financial instruments that allow people to hide wealth from tax authorities also allow them to donate anonymously to political campaigns, or to affect politics indirectly, through influence or personal contacts.

Both the lack of transparency and the law’s helplessness create apathy and cynicism about our political systems, just as they do in the autocratic world — a cynicism that can feed into extremism and support for anti-democratic parties and ideas.

Sheldon Whitehouse, a US senator who has lobbied hard to end anonymous transactions and curb the role of dark money in US politics, puts it like this: “Secrecy and democracy are antithetical,” he told me. “If American citizens aren’t allowed to understand who’s who on the political playing field, who’s playing for what team, who they really are, who they’re representing, you have disabled perhaps the most fundamental foundation of democracy.”

Perhaps the oddest thing about this system is the complacency it engenders. At least until recently, offshore tax havens were often treated like natural phenomena, land formations that cannot be changed or moved. The laws that made US states such as Delaware or South Dakota havens for people who wanted to hide money in trusts or anonymous companies were shrugged away as local problems. But all of these things are creations of the legal system, and they can easily be made illegal too.

We could, for example, require all real estate transactions, everywhere in the US and Europe, to be totally transparent. We could require all companies to be registered in the name of their true owners, or all trusts to reveal the names of their beneficiaries. We could ban our own citizens from keeping money in jurisdictions that promote secrecy, and we could ban lawyers and accountants from engaging with them. That doesn’t mean that they would cease to exist, but they would be much harder to use. We could close loopholes that allow anonymity in the private equity and hedge fund industries. We could create effective enforcement teams and then help them to operate across countries and continents.

We could do all of this in co-ordination with other partners around the world, and we could do so firm in the conviction that transparency is the normal, standard way of conducting business. Gary Kalman, the executive director of the US branch of Transparency International, the anti-corruption NGO, points out that the “vast majority of small business owners don’t have a problem naming their company — in fact, they often name the company after themselves.”

In recent years, both Britain and the US have made progress in this direction. David Cameron, then UK prime minister, held an anti-corruption summit back in 2016. The Biden administration began to treat kleptocracy and grand corruption as matters for the National Security Council, not just for the Treasury. In 2024’s UK general election, Keir Starmer and foreign secretary David Lammy explicitly campaigned around the fight against kleptocracy, including in British Overseas Territories. More than 110 countries have pledged, in theory, to collect the names and basic information about the beneficial owners of companies and property.

This slow shift of emphasis has had some results. Until last year, it was still possible to set up a company in Britain directly through Companies House, without providing any identifying information. Now minimal identification, of the kind anyone would need to apply for a bank account, passport or driving licence, is being introduced. There are still some ways around this, through the use of company formation agents which may be less stringent in checking identification, for example. Some legitimate exceptions can be made to the publication of information, for instance in the case of public figures who might be stalked. But the change is real.

As of this year, the US also now requires most companies to file a very short, one-page document, containing the name, address, date of birth and driver’s licence, passport or government identity number of the beneficial owner. As of August 28, the US Treasury has also extended anti-corruption and anti-money laundering requirements to residential real estate professionals as well as investment advisers working in the private investment market.

Still, none of these measures solves the whole problem. EU privacy laws have been used as an excuse to stop progress. Lawsuits in the US have been launched in an attempt to block even minimal disclosure requirements. Tax havens, among them British Overseas Territories, have resisted pressure to bring in similar rules.

More to the point, a handful of laws may not be sufficient. Powerful, wealthy people — the leaders of legitimate, prominent businesses, sometimes backed by chambers of commerce or liberal newspapers — will no doubt continue to seek to block transparency. The regulators assigned to monitor these legal changes could be deprived of funding. Although a set of corporate transparency measures did pass during his administration, President Trump was not especially interested in the enforcement of anti-corruption laws,  even reportedly telling  then secretary of state Rex Tillerson, in the spring of 2017, to “get rid of” the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which bars American companies from bribing foreign officials. Although he failed to eliminate that law entirely, he did slow down investigations and prosecutions, and could, of course, do so again.

The secretive world of kleptocracy is also protected by its own complexity. Money-laundering mechanisms are hard to understand and even harder to police. Anonymous transactions can move through different bank accounts in different countries in a matter of seconds, while anyone seeking to follow the money may need years to pursue the same trail. Civil servants charged with tracking complex, secretive billion-dollar deals earn low salaries themselves, and may not want to tangle with people of much greater wealth and influence.

For all those reasons, it’s clear that no single politician, party or country can do this alone. Instead, an international coalition, led by the wealthiest countries but with broader participation, is required to change the laws, end secretive practices and restore transparency to the international financial system. The democratic world has successfully created a network to block the financing of terrorism. Similarly, an anti-kleptocracy network could also include those treasury and finance ministry officials from across Europe, Asia and North America who have begun to understand how much damage money laundering and dark money have done to their own economies. They could work with community leaders from London, Vancouver, Miami and other cities whose landscapes, property markets and economies have been distorted by kleptocrats buying property that they use as a means of storing wealth.

The coalition could also include the activists who know more about how money is stolen in their own countries than outsiders, and more about how to communicate that information. Alexei Navalny, who was so good at both, died in a Russian prison. Before his arrest, Navalny made a series of crowdfunded documentary films, posted on YouTube, that tied the leaders of Russia to far-reaching financial scams and broad networks of enablers.

The videos succeeded because they were professionally made, because they included shocking details — the hookah lounge and hockey rink inside Putin’s vulgar Black Sea residence, as well as the vineyard, the helicopter pad and the oyster farm — and because they linked these stories to the poverty of Russian teachers, doctors and civil servants. You have bad roads and bad healthcare , Navalny told Russians, because they have vineyards, helicopter pads and oyster farms .

This was investigative journalism but packaged and designed to move people — to explain to them the connection between the palaces built by distant rulers and their own damaged lives — and it worked. Some of the videos received hundreds of millions of views.

Now imagine the same project, but backed by democratic governments, media and activists around the world. Not just investigations, and not just prosecutions, but a campaign to publicise them, and to connect them to ordinary people’s lives. Just as the democratic world once built an international anti-communist alliance, so can the US and its allies build an international anti-corruption alliance, organised around the idea of transparency, accountability and fairness. This isn’t just a nice-sounding idea: it may be necessary for the preservation of liberal democracy, in the form that we know it.

Anne Applebaum is the author of ‘Autocracy, Inc: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World’ (Allen Lane/Doubleday)

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