It's one thing if you happen to end up with investment in some less ethical business because someone is managing investments for you. But in this case you have

It's one thing if you happen to end up with investment in some less ethical business because someone is managing investments for you. But in this case you have to pay tens of thousands of dollars and sign contracts for nominee directors and account holders. I'm sure some people trusted the firms too much and didn't really realize the implications. But these firms are very careful when it come to liability so that someone didn't know they were setting up shell companies seems unlikely. It's more like if you chef or cleaner comes to you and ask you to sign an import declaration for endangered species or waste dumping liability waver. You can say "I thought this was normal" but you can't say "I didn't know this was going on" (well, you can but it won't have much standing as such).