Editor's Note: While this article was accurate at the time of publication, some information may now be outdated. We are currently preparing a comprehensive update. Sign up for our Alerts to be notified as soon as the revised content is live!
Yesterday started a new era in Costa Rica, a new time when all privacy using an anonymous corporation was no more.
In the good old days, a company, called a sociedad anonima, an anonymous society in English, S.A. for short, protected investors. Laws in the past allowed them to remain secret. The concept goes as far back as the 15th and 16th centuries to promote investment in transatlantic exploration. The term later became synonymous with a corporation, a limited liability company and the like.
Law 9416, enacted Dec. 14, 2016, was designed to quash privacy for legal entities formed to protect secret investors, the opposite of the original spirit of the practice. The Costa Rican government asserts it will only use the information harvested to find tax cheats, drug dealers and terrorist suspects. Everyone knows there is no system that cannot be hacked, leaving the information gathered at risk, especially in a country where important secrets quickly find their way to the front page of local newspapers.
