Andres Knobel

Lead Researcher Beneficial Ownership

Short bio

Andres Knobel is Lead Researcher Beneficial Ownership for the Tax Justice Network. He studied Law at the University of Buenos Aires and was an exchange student at Columbia University in New York. He completed his Master’s degree in Law and Economics at Di Tella University, focusing on tax law and public policy. His work focuses on beneficial ownership, offshore trusts and automatic exchange of banking information

Andres Knobel

Author’s contribution.

Flags of Countries in front of the United Nations Office at Geneva

🔴Live: UN tax negotiations

By Tax Justice Network ■ 25 April 2024 ■ 23 min READ

A large sculpture of face sits in the middle of a garden hedge maze

Another EU court case is weaponising human rights against transparency and tax justice

By Andres Knobel ■ 28 June 2024 ■ 19 min READ

The IMF’s paper on opaque bank ownership is fully aligned with our beneficial ownership policies

By Andres Knobel ■ 29 April 2024 ■ 3 min READ

The secrecy enablers strike back: weaponising privacy against transparency

By Andres Knobel ■ 26 March 2024 ■ 8 min READ ■ 1 comments

The IMF’s anti-money laundering strategy review is promising, but it all comes down to implementation

By Andres Knobel ■ 26 February 2024 ■ 4 min READ

Magnifying glass above a coin

New report on how to fix beneficial ownership frameworks, so they actually work

By Andres Knobel ■ 20 December 2023 ■ 14 min READ

Our response to the FATF’s consultation on Guidance on Recommendation 25 on beneficial ownership transparency for legal arrangements

By Andres Knobel ■ 30 November 2023 ■ 15 min READ

A row of colourful nesting dolls on a desk

30 uses for beneficial ownership (beyond anti-money laundering)

By Andres Knobel ■ 15 November 2023 ■ < 1

Business man in pin stripe suit carrying a black briefcase walking down a sidewalk

The unexploited silver bullet to tackle enablers: mandatory disclosure rules

By Andres Knobel ■ 14 July 2023 ■ 7 min READ

A man wearing a helmet standing in front of a huge yellow truck

Beneficial ownership and fossil fuels: lifting the lid on who benefits

By Andres Knobel ■ 30 June 2023 ■ 4 min READ

A fund-amental improvement: IMF engagement on its anti-money laundering strategy

By Andres Knobel ■ 8 May 2023 ■ 5 min READ

10 targets every country’s beneficial ownership laws should meet (and how to meet them effectively)

By Andres Knobel ■ 7 February 2023 ■ 3 min READ

Roadmap to Effective Beneficial Ownership Transparency (REBOT)

By Andres Knobel ■ 7 February 2023 ■ 19 min READ ■ 1 comments

Beneficial ownership registration in 2022: developing countries lead the way

By Andres Knobel ■ 15 December 2022 ■ 5 min READ

‘No, the proposals are not enough’: our response to FATF consultation on Recommendation 25

By Andres Knobel ■ 14 December 2022 ■ 16 min READ

‘Strong on risks, loose on solutions’: our response to FATF consultation on Recommendation 24

By Andres Knobel ■ 13 December 2022 ■ 12 min READ

Pawn chess piece standing among fallen chess pieces

Dear European Court of Justice, you were played

By Andres Knobel ■ 5 December 2022 ■ 2 min READ ■ 1 comments

Reforms to FATF Recommendation 25 should reflect fact not fiction

By Andres Knobel ■ 28 July 2022 ■ 7 min READ

Beneficial ownership transparency: how to fix a serious secrecy loophole in the automatic exchange system

By Andres Knobel ■ 26 April 2022 ■ 11 min READ

A collage of images featuring Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov, a stack of coins and Big Ben, against a bright yellow background.

No, trusts are not impenetrable shields for oligarchs’ assets. Here’s how to pierce them.

By Andres Knobel ■ 31 March 2022 ■ 13 min READ

Close up of a 2 EURO coin

How to improve the EU’s Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Package on beneficial ownership registration

By Andres Knobel ■ 21 March 2022 ■ 4 min READ

Addressing the secrecy risks of complex ownership chains: Another tool to improve beneficial ownership verification

By Andres Knobel ■ 16 February 2022 ■ 4 min READ

Penguins hold millions in Australian banks: revealing trends from Australian and German banking statistics

By Andres Knobel ■ 14 December 2021 ■ 6 min READ

Tax Justice Network proposal to FATF’s consultation on beneficial ownership for legal persons

By Andres Knobel ■ 6 December 2021 ■ 20 min READ

Rethinking Limited Liability: Beneficial Ownership Transparency to Reform the Liability System, working paper

By Andres Knobel ■ 10 November 2021 ■ 4 min READ

Pandora Papers and (South Dakota) trusts: Why do criminals and the rich like them so much?

By Andres Knobel ■ 8 October 2021 ■ 7 min READ

Pandora Papers: law firms must disclose clients’ names (like they’ve started doing in the US of all places)

By Andres Knobel ■ 7 October 2021 ■ 12 min READ

Isle of Man banking data leak reveals how sharing data can identify offshore strategies and improve beneficial ownership

By Andres Knobel ■ 29 September 2021 ■ 8 min READ

How to stop #LuxLetters and the abuse of tax rulings

By Andres Knobel ■ 1 July 2021 ■ 17 min READ

Buffet of tax-evading secrecy revealed by US settlement with Swiss bank Rahn+Bodmer

By Andres Knobel ■ 6 April 2021 ■ 8 min READ

Beneficial ownership verification: exploring Belgium’s sophisticated system

By Andres Knobel ■ 26 February 2021 ■ 3 min READ

Some things never change: the use of Swiss banks by crooks

By Andres Knobel ■ 15 February 2021 ■ 6 min READ

The US beneficial ownership law has its weaknesses, but it’s a seismic shift

By Andres Knobel ■ 20 January 2021 ■ 6 min READ

Argentina keeps pushing to be at the vanguard of transparency. Now they need to make more information public

By Andres Knobel ■ 18 January 2021 ■ 5 min READ

A Wall Street sign on a street pole

New publication on beneficial ownership transparency for companies listed on the stock exchange

By Andres Knobel ■ 11 November 2020 ■ 2 min READ

From outrage to action: how to prevent another 11 years of inaction after the FinCen files

By Andres Knobel ■ 5 November 2020 ■ 11 min READ

Regulating complex ownership chains – a call for experts for closed brainstorming round-table session

By Andres Knobel ■ 17 September 2020 ■ 8 min READ

a web camera on a laptop monitor

We ran a beneficial ownership webinar for over 260 officials from Latin America

By Andres Knobel ■ 10 September 2020 ■ 2 min READ

Dubious arguments to defend secrecy, even as automatic information exchange booms

By Andres Knobel ■ 27 August 2020 ■ 4 min READ

Germany’s new statistics on exchange of banking information: a trove of useful data and clues

By Andres Knobel ■ 21 August 2020 ■ 11 min READ ■ 1 comments

Judge ruling: “You are no Mother Teresa and no one goes to Cayman for philanthropic reasons”

By Andres Knobel ■ 13 August 2020 ■ 9 min READ

Developing countries, take note: how much money do your residents hold in Australia, the most transparent country on bank account information

By Andres Knobel ■ 10 August 2020 ■ 9 min READ

Rows of red lights on a black surface

The role of banks and digitalised beneficial ownership registries: way more than just reporting discrepancies

By Andres Knobel ■ 30 July 2020 ■ 8 min READ

Beneficial ownership definitions: determining “control” unrelated to ownership

By Andres Knobel ■ 23 July 2020 ■ 15 min READ

Is financial secrecy always bad?

By Andres Knobel ■ 13 July 2020 ■ 10 min READ

How authorities, banks and researchers from around the world are verifying beneficial ownership information

By Andres Knobel ■ 4 June 2020 ■ 6 min READ

Close up of a gavel

US appeals court confirms firm must disclose to IRS names of clients behind offshore bank accounts and foreign entities

By Andres Knobel ■ 7 May 2020 ■ 2 min READ

Silhouette of a person in front of panel lights

New group to promote beneficial ownership verification pilots around the world

By Andres Knobel ■ 24 April 2020 ■ 2 min READ ■ 1 comments

Argentina finally has a beneficial ownership register. Now, it should make it public

By Andres Knobel ■ 20 April 2020 ■ 10 min READ

San Jose, Costa Rica

Costa Rica: a bill threatening to render its beneficial ownership register useless

By Andres Knobel ■ 3 April 2020 ■ 3 min READ

FATF beneficial ownership report reveals cutting-edge verification processes, hesitates to endorse public registries

By Andres Knobel ■ 27 November 2019 ■ 15 min READ

The quadrillion-dollar elephant in the room: beneficial ownership in the investment industry

By Andres Knobel ■ 9 October 2019 ■ 9 min READ

Not just about control: one share in a company should be enough to be a beneficial owner

By Andres Knobel ■ 2 October 2019 ■ 5 min READ ■ 2 comments

Global Asset Registries: a game changer for the fight against inequality and illicit financial flows?

By Andres Knobel ■ 17 September 2019 ■ 2 min READ ■ 1 comments

leaking water hose

More beneficial ownership loopholes to plug: circular ownership, fragmented control and companies as parties to the trust

By Andres Knobel ■ 6 September 2019 ■ 4 min READ ■ 3 comments

We trained over 100 tax administration officials to use our Indexes

By Andres Knobel ■ 12 August 2019 ■ 4 min READ

Combination lock on briefcase

Protecting enablers: attorney-client privilege is just the tip of the iceberg in facilitating illicit financial flows

By Andres Knobel ■ 24 July 2019 ■ 11 min READ

A single open window in a grid of closed glass windows mirroring the sky

US half-shuts door to financial secrecy, opens new window

By Andres Knobel ■ 15 July 2019 ■ 6 min READ

A red coin operated binocular against a bright blue sky

SWIFT data can be a global vantage point for tackling global money laundering

By Andres Knobel ■ 11 July 2019 ■ 3 min READ

Close up of the

Dear WEF, let’s tax corporations in the real world

By Andres Knobel ■ 9 July 2019 ■ 3 min READ

Colourful coding on a monitor

Statistics on automatic exchange of banking information and the right to hold authorities (and banks) to account

By Andres Knobel ■ 21 June 2019 ■ 12 min READ

Eiffel Tower spotlight against a stormy evening sky

Global Asset Registry workshop – 1-2 July, Paris: submit your paper

By Andres Knobel ■ 2 May 2019 ■ 2 min READ

The use of banking information to tackle corruption and money laundering: a low-hanging fruit the OECD refuses to harvest

By Andres Knobel ■ 30 April 2019 ■ 8 min READ

Eiffel Tower spotlight against a stormy evening sky

Call for papers: the Global Asset Registry workshop – Paris, 1-2 July

By Andres Knobel ■ 1 April 2019 ■ 2 min READ

Magnifying glass spotting dollar bills amid a mess of objects

How to verify beneficial ownership information – new report

By Andres Knobel ■ 22 January 2019 ■ 4 min READ ■ 1 comments

How to assess the effectiveness of automatic exchange of banking information?

By Andres Knobel ■ 20 December 2018 ■ 5 min READ

a gavel on a desk

The US can be blacklisted under the OECD’s new rules due to a forgotten commitment

By Andres Knobel ■ 12 December 2018 ■ 5 min READ

The G20 and the OECD disappoint again

By Andres Knobel ■ 7 December 2018 ■ 8 min READ

A row of microphones

Tax justice pushes forward at OECD’s Global Forum

By Andres Knobel ■ 5 December 2018 ■ 7 min READ

Passports and residency for sale: the OECD is sitting on its hands. Here’s how to fix the problem…

By Andres Knobel ■ 13 November 2018 ■ 7 min READ

The abuse of Limited Partnerships in the UK: predicting the future with the Financial Secrecy Index

By Andres Knobel ■ 31 July 2018 ■ 3 min READ

Blacklist, whitewashed: How the OECD bent its rules to help tax haven USA

By Andres Knobel ■ 27 July 2018 ■ 6 min READ ■ 1 comments

OECD stretches the truth to give the US a better transparency rating than Ghana

By Andres Knobel ■ 26 July 2018 ■ 9 min READ ■ 1 comments

chained gate fence road closed sign

Country by country reports: why “automatic” is no replacement for “public”

By Andres Knobel ■ 17 July 2018 ■ 10 min READ ■ 1 comments

It’s time for countries to start publishing the data they’re collecting under OECD’s Common Reporting Standard

By Andres Knobel ■ 11 July 2018 ■ 5 min READ

locked gate door

Ending secret ownership: we assess the progress and challenges

By Andres Knobel ■ 28 June 2018 ■ 6 min READ

The EU’s latest agreement on amending the anti-money laundering directive: at the vanguard of trust transparency, but still further to go

By Andres Knobel ■ 9 April 2018 ■ 11 min READ

OECD rules vs CRS avoidance strategies: not bad, but short of teeth and too dependent on good faith

By Andres Knobel ■ 27 March 2018 ■ 5 min READ

Regulation of Beneficial Ownership in Latin America and the Caribbean

By Andres Knobel ■ 26 March 2018 ■ 2 min READ

Now you see me, now you don’t: using citizenship and residency by investment to avoid automatic exchange of banking information

By Andres Knobel ■ 12 March 2018 ■ 3 min READ

Inverted Maps: The Corruption Perception Index and the Financial Secrecy Index

By Andres Knobel ■ 22 February 2018 ■ 2 min READ

Trusts and the UK: half a step forward, three steps backwards

By Andres Knobel ■ 19 December 2017 ■ 10 min READ ■ 1 comments

Enough evidence on trusts – where are the State’s actions?

By Andres Knobel ■ 8 November 2017 ■ 7 min READ ■ 1 comments

Our paper “Trusts: Weapons of Mass Injustice?” – now available in Spanish

By Andres Knobel ■ 25 October 2017 ■ < 1

“Trusts: Weapons of Mass Injustice?” A response to the critics

By Andres Knobel ■ 25 September 2017 ■ 37 min READ

Post-Panama Papers sunlight on New Zealand Trusts

By Andres Knobel ■ 13 July 2017 ■ 3 min READ

Double-Layer Secrecy: add Lawyer Confidentiality to Banking Secrecy

By Andres Knobel ■ 12 June 2017 ■ 4 min READ

Do Anti-Money Laundering requirements solve ‘fake residency’ concerns?

By Andres Knobel ■ 30 May 2017 ■ 5 min READ

Faking residency: OECD’s Common Reporting Standard leaves the door wide open for fraud

By Andres Knobel ■ 23 May 2017 ■ 5 min READ ■ 4 comments

The Achilles heel of effective beneficial ownership registration: Why is everyone fixed on 25%?

By Andres Knobel ■ 11 May 2017 ■ 5 min READ ■ 1 comments

The OECD – penalising developing countries for trying to tackle tax avoidance

By Andres Knobel ■ 7 March 2017 ■ 6 min READ

Beneficial Ownership and disclosure of trusts: challenging the privacy arguments

By Andres Knobel ■ 7 December 2016 ■ 7 min READ ■ 1 comments

Switzerland and information exchange: tweak, tweak and something will always remain

By Andres Knobel ■ 28 November 2016 ■ 4 min READ ■ 3 comments

The OECD information exchange ‘dating game’

By Andres Knobel ■ 25 October 2016 ■ 4 min READ

Automatic Information Exchange: a trove of useful new data. Here’s a template for using it

By Andres Knobel ■ 5 January 2016 ■ 4 min READ