Family Offices Say Disclosure Plan Invites Theft, Kidnapping

A proposal by the U.S. Treasury Department to require certain corporations to disclose identities of their beneficial shareholders is attracting opposition from family offices.

Ultra-wealthy families or individuals are “uniquely susceptible” to crimes like theft, fraud, extortion and kidnapping, according to the Private Investor Coalition, a group that advocates for single-family offices in Washington.

Disclosing personal identifiers such as names and residential addresses, as the new rule would require, could endanger these families for whom privacy considerations “are of paramount importance,” the group said in a Feb. 1 letter to the Federal Register submitted during the comment period.

Even though ...