Reported by GIULIA MORPURGO and BLOOMBERG

Moody’s Analytics has found 21 million “red flags” associated with shell companies that could be used to enable financial crimes, from ancient directors to dubious addresses.

For instance, more than 2,200 companies have directors aged 123 years and above, despite the fact that the oldest known human lived to 122, said Richard Graham, a director at Moody’s Analytics, in research published Monday. One listed director — at 942 years old — would have been born in the 11th century.

Atypical directorship is just one of seven key behaviors highlighted in the research, including mass registration, dormancy and circular ownership. While new regulations across the world are looking to improve transparency at shell companies, there is still some way to go, with $1.6 trillion laundered annually, according to data from Moody’s Analytics.

The study looked at some 472 million companies in November. The country with the highest number of shell company risks was the UK, with almost 5 million flags. Companies registered in the US had the most flags related to financial anomalies, at over 1.25 million

Read full report: https://fortune.com/2024/01/22/moodys-red-flags-shell-companies-directors-123-years-old/amp/

Read study from Moody’s Analytics: https://www.moodys.com/web/en/us/about/insights/data-stories/kyc-innovation-shell-company-indicator.html