CHINA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Greg Hallahan, Amanda Rasmussen and Kristine Kwok, Secretariat
government regulated authorities in the key jurisdic - tions. Real estate ownership In each of the key jurisdictions, the current and historic owner/s of a property can be searched by address. In the United States, Canada and Australia, separate databases must be consulted depending on the coun - ty, province, state or territory of the location. It is more difficult to identify real estate with only the name of an individual or entity. In the United States, British Columbia (only) in Canada, the United King - dom, Australia and Hong Kong, it is possible to tri - angulate data points with the name of an individual or entity. For other parts of Canada and Singapore, databases are not sufficiently flexible to allow for this check. In Singapore, indications of holdings can be identified via property tax records, which show mort - gages on properties, and can be searched by entity (but not by individual). Vanity assets Many high net worth individuals own “vanity” assets such as luxury vehicles and collections of value (art, jewellery, watches, etc). A good place to search for indications of these hold - ings is the deep web, performing searches to identify the international social media accounts on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok associated with debtors, their family members and close business associates. Even where high net worth individuals themselves are inclined to maintain a low- profile, they quite frequently appear in the posts of friends and family. Glimpses of artwork in the back - drop of photos posted on social media, combined with review of auction house catalogues, can provide leads to collections of value, for example. It can be a surprise to a debtor to discover just how much a creditor knows about their personal lives for the pur - poses of settlement negotiations. Arresting a luxury yacht or private jet can also be a useful tactic, even if the value of the asset is less than the sum owed. By definition, the process is likely to catch the debtor unawares and embroil them in administrative complications, and might directly inter -
rupt the business and travel plans of both an individual debtor and/or embarrass them in front of family mem - bers and friends. It is possible to identify the owner of registered planes with a tail number, and superyachts and ships with an International Marine Organization number (or local equivalent). These numbers can often be identified via aviation enthusiast websites, which forensically photograph and record the movement of specific planes from airport to airport; and via advertisements in luxury travel magazines or paparazzi photographs published in celebrity news blogs and media. Satellite images and global shipping and flight tracking soft - ware also allow close examination of the location and movement of specific watercraft and planes. In the United States, Canada, the UK and Australia, individuals can apply to mask their registration on pri - vacy grounds, but most owners are listed in national (or state/provincial) registers. In Hong Kong and Sin - gapore, shipping and aircraft registers are only acces - sible on application by legal counsel. Many luxury craft owners choose to register their plane or yacht in offshore jurisdictions for tax purposes, or hold the asset via an offshore company such that they are not required to disclose ultimate ownership. Individuals who regularly travel through Europe often register in Malta or Cyprus, while Americans might choose the Cayman Islands or the Marshall Islands, among others. Open-source intelligence can usually help to identify the relevant “flag”, and naming pat - terns can sometimes help to indicate, if not confirm, ownership. In the United States, vehicle ownership can usually be determined, but most other jurisdictions do not make this information publicly accessible. Company equity In Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore, the names and equity holding of shareholders of private compa - nies is publicly disclosed. In the UK, companies are required to disclose their majority shareholder only. In Canada, only federally registered companies are obliged to disclose shareholders. US Secretaries of State records very rarely show shareholders.
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