# Behind a Wall: Investigating Company and Real Estate Ownership in France URL: https://www.transparency.org/en/publications/behind-a-wall-company-real-estate-ownership-in-france Type: Publication or report Published: 2023-07-05 Updated: 2023-07-05 --- 05 July 2023 Real estate in France, particularly in Paris and the French Riviera, has long been known to attract criminals and the corrupt. Time and again, foreign politicians and businesspeople allegedly involved in or convicted of financial crimes have been revealed to own luxury properties in France. At the start of the war in Ukraine, some 30 Kremlin-linked individuals reportedly held more than 350 million euros worth of French real estate. Connecting suspicious individuals to their properties abroad is a notoriously difficult task because they virtually never own high-value assets directly and under their own names. Instead, real estate ownership is almost always concealed with the help of opaque corporate vehicles. In principle, tracking potentially illicit financial flows into real estate should be possible in France, where public authorities collect information on the real owners of both companies and real estate. This data has been publicly available since 2021, so activists and investigative journalists should be able to follow the money. In reality, however, our report with Transparency International France and Transparency International and the Anti-Corruption Data Collective reveals that investigations into money laundering through French real estate are destined to hit a brick wall. See also: - Feature article: [Searching for owners – What we found when we cross-analysed company and real estate ownership data in France](https://www.transparency.org/en/news/searching-for-owners-france-company-real-estate-ownership-data) - Press release: [More than two-thirds of corporate-owned real estate in France is anonymously held](https://www.transparency.org/en/press/france-two-thirds-of-corporate-owned-real-estate-anonymously-held) ### Related publications ## [Regional Assessment of Integrity in Political Finance in South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia](https://www.transparency.org/en/publications/integrity-political-finance-asia) Publication • 03 September 2026 This report reviews systems across 17 countries to identify the areas of political finance most in need of reform. ## [Annual Report 2025](https://www.transparency.org/en/publications/annual-report-2025) Publication • 17 July 2026 In 2025, Transparency International pursued its mission to stop corruption and promote transparency, accountability and integrity at all levels and across all sectors of society. ## [Whistleblowing Authorities in Europe: Roles, challenges and lessons learned](https://www.transparency.org/en/publications/whistleblowing-authorities-in-europe-roles-challenges-and-lessons-learned) Publication • 19 June 2026 This report examines the institutional design, mandates and functioning of national whistleblowing authorities across Europe. ## [Global Corruption Barometer 2003](https://www.transparency.org/en/publications/gcb-2003) Publication • 03 July 2003 ## Priorities - [Dirty money](https://www.transparency.org/en/our-priorities/dirty-money) ## Countries - [France](https://www.transparency.org/en/countries/france) ## Regions - [European Union](https://www.transparency.org/en/region/european-union) ## Projects - [Global Anti-Corruption Consortium](https://www.transparency.org/en/projects/global-anti-corruption-consortium) ![Cover page of the Behind a Wall report; photo shows a view of a beautiful Haussmann building in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris](https://images.transparencycdn.org/images/2023-Report-cover-Behind-a-Wall-English.jpg?auto=compress&fit=crop&fm=webp&w=1200) [Download](https://images.transparencycdn.org/images/2023-Report-Behind-a-Wall-English.pdf)