Belgium shuts down over 2,100 'ghost companies'

The Belgian government this year shut down more than 2,100 'ghost companies', or registered businesses that failed to submit a financial statement in three or more years, writes De Tijd.

As many as 2,130 ghost-, or shell companies, have been scrapped so far in 2016 from Belgium's Central Enterprise Databank, nearly as many as last year, with 2,187 cases, confirms Chantal De Pauw, spokeswoman for the FPS Economy.

Since 2013, all companies that have not filed a financial statement for three years or more are automatically removed from the databank. In that first year, a major clean-up operation led to the deletion of 97,228 ghost companies.

Shell companies can be used for fraudulent purposes, such as VAT carousels and drug trafficking.