In the recent past, bearer shares especially allowed for anonymous corporate ownership.  A corporation that issued bearer shares had no central registry of the bearer share ownership.  As a glossary from the The Financial Action Task Force explains, “[b]earer shares refers to negotiable instruments that accord ownership in a legal person to the person

A divorcing spouse seeking hidden marital assets; a creditor pursuing the payment of a debt; or an IRS revenue officer collecting a delinquent tax; may sometimes be looking for assets hidden by those offering offshore asset protection services.

According to Equity Development Group’s “Why Go Offshore” link-page, placing bank accounts offshore protects them from “predatory